Every year since its debut release in 2007, Bioenergy Europe’s StatisticalReport has provided an in-depth overview of the bioenergy sector in the EU-27 Member States.
Bioenergy Europe’s Statistical Report has beenenriched each year with new figures and information, collecting unique data on the developments of the European bioenergy market from a growing number of international contributors.
Bioenergy Europe develops detailed reports that aid industry leaders, decision makers, investors and all bioenergy professionals to understand the situation of bioenergy in Europe.
Bioenergy Europe´s Statistical Report can get accurate and up-to-date information on the EU-27 energy system such as the final energy consumption of biomass for heat and electricity, the number of biogas plants in Europe, the consumption and trade of pellets, the production capacity of biofuels and other key information to help break down and clarify the complexity of a sector in constant evolution.
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Global wood pellet production remained broadly stable in 2024, reaching around 48,3 million tonnes.This represents a marginal increase of just 0,2%compared to 2023, when total output stood at 48,2 million tonnes. The near-zero growth reflects a marked deceleration from the more robust expansion seen in earlier years, pointing to a maturing global market operating under mixed demand and supply conditions.
While production capacity continued to expand, risingby 5% to around 75 million tonnes, the actual utilization rate declined slightly, from 67% in 2023 to 64% in 2024. This growing gap between installed capacity and actual production could be explained by different factors, including regional weather variability, fluctuations in operation costs, shifting end-use demand or increasing competition for biomass feedstocks.
Europe, which remains the world’s largest pellet producing region, experienced a noticeable decrease in output. Total production across the continent (EU27 +Other Europe) declined by 7%, from 24,5 million tonnes in 2023 to 22,7 million tonnes in 2024. Within this, the EU27 accounted for 19,4 million tonnes, down 5% year-on-year, while production in non-EU European countries fell more steeply by 16%, primarily drivenby Russia. This downturn could have been driven by lower demand in the residential heating sector, during 2022 and 2023, where warmer than average winter conditions combined with energy crisis led tohigh carry-over stocks and therefore reduced market activity. In several EU Member States, demand stabilised following the exceptionally high consumption peaks observed in 2022, linked to the post-crisisfuel-switching dynamics. Policy uncertainty around future heating defossilization pathways, particularly in Germany and France, may also have contributed to amore cautious production environment.
North American output holds steady under stable export demand. In North America, pellet production remained relatively flat, registering a minor year-ony eardecrease of 0,8% to reach 14,2 million tonnes. The region's two principal producers, the United Statesand Canada, maintained steady output levels amid abalanced export-oriented market. Growth in capacitywas modest at 2%, and the industry operated with relatively high utilisation rates compared to Europe.
Evolution of global pellet production (tonnes)
Asian growth driving global production trendsAsia emerged as the only region to post significantproduction growth in 2024, with output rising by 24%to just above 10 million tonnes. This expansion waslargely concentrated in Southeast Asian countriessuch as Vietnam and Malaysia, whose export-drivenindustries continued to benefit from firm demand inJapan and South Korea. Both countries maintainedstable procurement frameworks through feed-intariffs and co-firing mandates, allowing predictableofftake and high-capacity utilisation. The policyenvironment in this region remains a key enabler ofgrowth, and any changes to Japan’s FIT structure orSouth Korea’s Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) scheme could significantly affect regional dynamics inthe years ahead.
South American capacity builds on export momentumSouth America recorded a moderate increase in pelletproduction, growing by 4% to reach 1,04 million tonnesin 2024. This growth followed continued investmentin export-oriented production capacity in Brazil, whereproducers are increasingly targeting European andAsian industrial markets. The region’s relatively lowbaseline and access to abundant forestry resourcesprovide long-term growth potential, although logisticaland certification barriers remain persistent challenges.
Global pellet consumption is more challenging to assess accurately than pellet production. Data regarding industrial pellet consumption are more easily accessible, since they relate to a small number of actors around the global that typically report volumes consumed in their own sustainability reports and/or for official reporting purposes. However, accurate consumption data from small-scale consumptionin residential and commercial heating applications is impossible to collect and has to be estimated via alternative approaches. As such, the following data should be considered indicative only and not regardedas completely definitive.
In 2024, global wood pellet consumption reachedan all-time high, exceeding 45 million tonnes for the first time. This record comes right after the first decreasing year in consumption and underline the resilience of the pellet sector. As illustrated, European countries continue to drive global demand, accounting for 70% of total consumption. Yet, the geographical distribution of this consumption is shifting, indicating a potential transformation of the industry. While maintaining its leading position, the EU27 is experiencing a decline in pellet consumption compared to the peak of 2021. Indeed, since then, total consumption in the region has dropped by 1 million tonnes, representing a 4% decrease. Although both industrial and small-scale uses have been affected, the sharpest decline has occurred in the residential and commercial heating sectors. Other European countries, led by the substantial demand from the UK, are not following the same trend observed in the EU27, thanks to Drax power station reactivating a significant portion of its capacity, sharply increasing its pellet consumption. In just one year, it recovered previous declines, adding nearly 3 million tonnes of additional demand. The consumption for other Europeans countries is now reaching 10,6 million tonnes. Future market disruptions are expected following new UK government subsidies for the Drax power plant, effective from 2027 to 2031. Under the scheme, the plant is projected to operate at around half of its current capacity. In 2024, Drax consumed nearly 9 million tonnes of pellets which is about one thirdof total European demand. A reduction of this scale would have significant repercussions for the entire pellet sector.
The future of global pellet consumption increasingly lies in Asia. Although reliable data on China and India remain unavailable, two other Asian countries, namely Japan and South Korea are reportedly scaling upwood pellet use for power generation. Overall, Asia’s pellet consumption has doubled over the past four years, reaching 11,5 million tonnes in 2024. Japanis the region’s largest consumer closely followed bythe Republic of Korea. Notably, a clear distinction is emerging between producing and consuming countries. Major consumers like Japan and Korea arenot expanding proportionally their domestic production but instead rely heavily on imports. In parallel, new producers such as Indonesia and Malaysia are entering the market, despite having practically no domestic consumption.
Pellet consumption in North and South America remained relatively stable between 2023 and 2024, with a slight overall decline of 100.000 tonnes. In North America, consumption relates mostly to small scaleuse and continues to decline, primarily driven byweather conditions. In contrast, domestic consumptionin South America is showing modest growth.
Distribution of world pellet consumption in2024 (%)
