Christmas tree production occurs worldwide on Christmas tree farms, in artificial tree factories and from native strands of pine and fir trees. Christmas trees, pine and fir trees purposely grown for use as a Christmas tree, are grown on plantations in many western nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. In Australia, the industry is relatively new, and nations such as the United States, Germany and Canada are among world leaders in annual production.
Great Britain consumes about 8 million trees annually, while in the United States between 35 and 40 million trees are sold during the Christmas season. Artificial Christmas trees are mostly produced in the Pearl River delta area of China. Christmas tree prices were described using a Hotelling-Faustmann model in 2001, the study showed that Christmas tree prices declined with age and demonstrated why more farmers do not price their trees by the foot. In 1993, economists made the first known demand elasticity estimates for the natural Christmas tree market.
Natural tree production
Australia Christmas tree farming is a relatively new agricultural pursuit in Australia with the industry only sprouting up within the early 21st century. There are a number of differences in Christmas tree production in Australia when compared with nations in the Northern Hemisphere. The growing season differs because harvest is during a different time of year, this means that lessons learned about farming in the United States and Europe are more difficult to apply to Australia. The seasonal difference also affects the pruning and shearing schedule for the crop. The other primary difference in Australian Christmas tree farming is found in the type of tree grown, Pinus radiata, which is no longer commonly grown for Christmas trees in the United States and Europe, is popular in Australia.Sonogan, Bruce. "Growing cut Christmas trees, (PDF), Agriculture Notes, Victoria Department of Primary Industries, January 2006, ISSN 1329-8062. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
Europe
The European demand for live trees reaches about 50 million per year, compared with the demand for about 35 million of the trees in the United States.Preston, Holly Hubbard. "For a Very Merry Christmas, Invest in Trees for the Season ", International Herald Tribune, 23 December 2000. Retrieved 3 September 2007. Denmark is a major producer of live Christmas trees, about 90 percent are exported to other European nations, such as Great Britain, France, Germany and Austria. Denmark exported about 1 million trees to Great Britain in 2004.Anonymous. "Tree shortage threatens Christmas ", Metro (London), 28 November 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2007. 2005 Christmas tree sales in Denmark was about kr1.2 billion (US$204 million, €160 million), of this amount kr1.1 billion was in exports.Staff writers. "Danish Christmas Tree Shortage Threatens Prices Across Europe", Terra Daily, 6 November 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
The leading European producers of natural Christmas trees are found in central and western Europe. 2018 estimates indicated that Germany produced 18 million Christmas trees annually, followed by France's 6 million trees, Denmark's 10 million trees, Belgium's 5.2 million trees, and Great Britain's 4.4 million Christmas trees produced.
The seeds used to grow Christmas trees in most European countries are harvested in Georgia (90%). The working conditions of seed pickers in a largely unregulated industry has been highlighted as a concern to the main companies buying seeds for cultivation in Denmark. Ultimately the growing of Christmas trees that end up in the majority of homes across Europe have been produced by workers in conditions protected by European law. However, the seeds harvested in Georgia to produce those trees are collected by workers in very poor conditions.
North America
There are more than 20,000 North American Christmas tree growers, 95 percent of the trees they produce are sold or shipped directly from the farms. On each of the planted in Christmas trees annually there are usually about 2,000 trees, the number of trees that survive to harvest varies from 750–1,500 depending upon location. Christmas trees take an average of 6 to 10 years (from transplant) to mature for harvest and each year 73 million new Christmas trees are planted."Christmas Tree Facts ", Plant Materials Program, National Resources Conservation Service, 16 December 2003; 23 January 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
There are 3 major growing regions in North America: the Pacific northwest, the northeast region of Canada and United States, and the Appalachians region of North Carolina and surrounding states. North American exports are commonly the highest quality in foreign markets.
In 2002, in the United States, 21,904 Christmas tree farms covering of cropland accounted for the 20.8 million Christmas trees cut."Woodland Crops: 2002 and 1997 ", (PDF), 2002 Census of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 14 July 2007. Of those farms, 686 harvested or more, which accounted for over of the total area of trees harvested. That same year, there were only three U.S. Christmas tree farms with more than of cropland in production. The total U.S. crop in 2004 was valued at $506 million with $143 million attributed to the nation's leading producer in 2004, Oregon. Oregon was followed in production numbers by North Carolina, Washington, and Michigan. In 2012, 24 million trees were sold at a retail value of over $1 billion.
Trees are grown across the United States in varying conditions, Christmas trees are grown in all 50 U.S. states including Alaska and Hawaii.Fischman, Bernice and Tilt, Ken. "History of the Christmas Tree ", College of Agriculture - Horticulture, Auburn University. Retrieved 14 July 2007.Wolford, Ron. Christmas Tree Facts , Christmas Trees & More, University of Illinois. Retrieved 25 August 2007. Other states produced smaller number of trees. For example, in the U.S. state of Alabama there are almost 100 Christmas tree farms which average 800 trees annually. Ninety percent of Alabama's tree farms are "choose and cut" type operations which allow customers to visit and cut their own live Christmas tree. Pennsylvania was home to the most American Christmas tree farms in 2002; the state boasted 2,164 farms. Oregon, however, had the most land devoted to the crop with being used for Christmas tree farming."The Holiday Season ", (Press release), United States Census Bureau, 19 December 2005. Retrieved 25 August 2007. Between 2002 and 2012 the production of Christmas trees had declined by over 60% in several US states including Kentucky, Montana, Louisiana, Minnesota, and even Wisconsin, whom harvested 994,594 less trees in 2012.
Of the 40 million live Christmas trees sold in North America each year about 5 to 6 million are grown in Canada.Anonymous. "Christmas tree safety", CBC News, 4 December 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2007. In Ontario, the markets are mainly dominated by sales of the Scots pine, and the White Spruce.Leuty, Todd. "Christmas tree production ", Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 26 March 1999; 31 July 2003. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
During the 1970s and 1980s domestic production of natural Christmas trees was done through natural forests, a shift began in the 1980s and, especially, the 1990s toward plantations and nurseries.Lehrer, Michael. "Mexico - Product Brief - Christmas Trees - 2004 ", USDA Foreign Agriculture Service, GAIN Report - Gain Report No: MX4312, August 25, 2004, accessed September 23, 2012. For the years 2009 and 2010 around 800,000 Christmas trees were grown in Mexico on 5000 hectares of land. The USDA reported in 2011 that the majority of Christmas tree production in Mexico took place in the State of Mexico, 60 percent. However, tree production still took place in Nuevo León, Veracruz, as well as the states of Mexico City, Puebla, Jalisco, and Guanajuato.
Artificial tree production Most artificial Christmas trees are made of 100% recycled plastics from used PVC packaging materials in China. Promoters of artificial trees highlight them as convenient, reusable, and of better quality than artificial trees of the past. Supporters also note that some apartment buildings have banned natural trees because of fire concerns.Langer, Gary. "Poll: Fake Christmas Trees Grow Popular", ABC News, 23 December 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
There is also a robust market for artificial Christmas trees in Poland. An estimated 20 percent of all Christmas trees sold in Poland are artificial, and many are made domestically by individual families. One producer from Koziegłówki stated that every other house was an artificial tree producer. The trees are made from a special film which is imported from China or Thailand. Entire families take part in production and the trees are sold throughout Poland with some being exported to the Czech Republic and Slovakia."Pining Fir the Holidays ", Warsaw Voice, December 19, 2002, accessed April 15, 2008.
Market
European
British demand for natural Christmas trees is around 8 million annually, with about two-thirds of households opting for artificial trees. When a Danish tree shortage in 2006 resulted in only 200,000 of the usual 1 million Nordmann Fir trees to the British Isles, British farmers were forced to make up the deficit with Norway Spruce, Fraser Fir, and Scots pine. The shortage was a result of a hot summer and a cut in subsidies for growing Christmas trees in Denmark.
Christmas tree consumers in Europe prefer trees with less density and a more open, layered appearance. This is partially because trees are displayed for a relatively short period of time in Europe, and many are lit with candles.Chastagner, Gary A., and Benson, D. Michael. The Christmas Tree: Traditions, Production and Diseases, Plant Management Network International, (authors from North Carolina State University and Washington State University), 13 October 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
North American The market for natural Christmas trees in the United States began to tumble when an oversupply during the late 1980s through the mid-1990s sent prices downward.Rose, Michael. "Oregon Christmas tree growers branch out internationally ", KGW News Channel 8 (Portland, Oregon), 19 November 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2007. In 1992, harvests of around 850,000 trees in New England were considered too many and Christmas trees sold for around $5 as opposed to the usual $18–30 each."Holiday trees in oversupply", The New York Times, 30 November 1992. Retrieved 5 September 2007. Natural Christmas tree use continued to decline over the next decade, in part, due to the continued rise in popularity of artificial trees.Muñoz, Sara, Schaefer. "Fight Before Christmas: Real Trees vs. Fakes ", The Wall Street Journal, 21 December 2006. Retrieved 10 September 2007. In U.S. states where a marginal number of trees were grown, many growers were driven out of business."Forestry: Christmas Tree Farming", Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State University, 3 November 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2007.