The Domestic Wood Industry’s Contribution to the National Economy and Its Growth Factors

For the sustainable development of the wood industry, this study examines the impact of the wood industry on the national economy. It identifies factors that promote the growth of the sector. The wood industry consists of 17 wood-related industries from the classification of the input-output table. The result shows that the contribution of the wood industry to the national economy is estimated to be 32,253.6 billion won and 2,486.5 billion won based on the amount of output and value-added, respectively, as of 2018. In other words, even though the self-sufficiency rate of raw materials is less than 20%, the wood industry has a tremendous impact on the national economy. Moreover, the decomposition of the growth rate shows that the main factor in the growth of the wood industry is the effect of expanding final domestic demand. The factors that hindered the growth are the effect of substituting intermediate goods imports and the impact of technological change. The result implies that the expansion of the final demand of the domestic wood industry has a positive effect on the shift in domestic output. On the other hand, the dependence on raw material imports and the stagnation of technological development harm the growth of the wood industry.