Tree surgery is a bigger industry than most people realise and a more dangerous one. These are the numbers behind the chainsaws, the call-outs, and the invoices.

Every stat below is sourced from public data: HSE reports, insurance industry figures, government datasets, and verified industry research. Where a figure comes from our own experience at Capel Tree Surgeons, we say so.

The UK tree surgery industry

There are approximately 6,975 tree surgery and arborist businesses operating in the UK as of 2026. (RenTech Digital)
England accounts for 6,033 of those businesses, roughly 85% of the total.
Scotland has 483 tree surgery businesses (6.9%) and Wales has 361 (5.2%).
An estimated 11,000 to 14,000 people actively work as arborists in the UK, from sole traders to crews in larger firms.
Nearly 85% of tree surgery businesses are single-owner operations. (Beechwood Trees)
The Arboricultural Association has 3,200 members, making it the largest professional body for tree care in the UK.
The number of ARB Approved Contractors (the industry's quality benchmark) is around 350 nationally.

How dangerous is tree surgery?

Tree surgery is listed as the second most dangerous occupation in the world by OSHA, behind commercial fishing. (South Downs Tree Services)
24 tree surgeons and arborists have been killed in the UK in the last 10 years while carrying out tree work. (JC Tree Services)
Over 1,400 tree workers have suffered injuries in the same period.
There have been more than 350 reported accidents involving tree surgeons in the last 3 years alone. (HSE)
The three main causes of serious tree work accidents are falls from height, chainsaw injuries, and being struck by falling timber.
Tree work has a higher major injury incidence rate than the construction industry, according to the HSE.
The forestry and arboriculture sector has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers in the UK.
Modern UK tree work fatality rates are approximately 10 to 15 deaths per year across the full industry.
NPTC certification (now City & Guilds) is the minimum standard for anyone operating a chainsaw professionally in the UK. It is not legally required to call yourself a tree surgeon, which is part of the problem.

What tree surgery costs in the UK

The average cost of tree removal in the UK is approximately £500, though prices range from £150 to £4,800 depending on size and access. (Checkatrade)
Removing a small tree (up to 25 feet) typically costs £240 to £340.
Removing a medium tree (25 to 50 feet) costs around £1,190 to £1,720.
Removing a large English Oak can cost £2,800 to £4,800. A mature Ash is typically around £2,300.
Crown reduction costs between £350 and £1,500 for most trees. Large or complex jobs can reach £4,000 to £5,000. (Checkatrade)
Stump grinding costs between £60 and £300 per stump, depending on size and access. (Chigwell Tree Services)
Hedge trimming costs £60 to £150 for a standard garden hedge. Conifer and leylandii work costs more due to volume.
Tree surgeon day rates in the UK range from £350 to £550 per day, varying by region and crew size.
Prices in London and the South East are typically £30 to £80 per day higher than the national average.
Winter (November to February) is the cheapest time for tree work. Demand drops and tree surgeons price more competitively.
The most expensive months are late spring and summer, when storm damage, overgrowth, and garden projects all compete for slots.
From our own books at Capel Tree Surgeons in Sussex and Surrey, the most common job value sits between £400 and £1,200. The £150 jobs and the £5,000 jobs both exist, but most domestic work falls in that middle band.

What tree surgeons earn

The average UK tree surgeon salary is approximately £25,000 to £34,000 per year, depending on the source and region. (PayScale, Indeed)
Apprentice tree surgeons earn between £13,000 and £18,000 during training.
Qualified climbers typically earn £25,000 to £35,000.
Experienced climbers who rig, dismantle, and run sites earn £32,000 to £42,000.
Arborist climbers are among the highest earners in the trade, averaging £34,850 nationally. (ArbJobs)
Self-employed tree surgeons with their own equipment and clients can earn significantly more, but carry the cost of insurance, machinery, vehicles, and downtime.
The National Careers Service lists tree surgery as requiring no formal qualifications to enter, though employers overwhelmingly require NPTC/City & Guilds chainsaw certificates, first aid training, and climbing competence.

Ash dieback in the UK

Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) is predicted to kill or severely affect 80% of ash trees in the UK. (Woodland Trust)
The disease is expected to cost the UK economy over £15 billion in total. (Forest Research)
Ash is the third most common tree in the UK, after Oak and Birch.
There are an estimated 150 million ash trees in the UK, including hedgerow, woodland, and urban specimens.
Ash dieback was first confirmed in the UK in 2012. It has since spread to every county in England and Wales.
The disease causes crown dieback, bark lesions, and structural weakening, making affected trees increasingly dangerous near roads, paths, and buildings.
Some ash trees show natural tolerance to the disease. Research from East Anglia found that a small percentage of monitored trees were in better condition in 2025 than in 2013. (Forestry Commission)
In Sussex and Surrey, ash dieback is visible across rural hedgerows, garden boundaries, and roadside trees. At Capel, ash dieback work now accounts for a steady share of our emergency and planned removal jobs.

Storm damage and insurance

UK insurers paid out £1.2 billion in weather-related property claims in 2025, a 14% increase on 2024. (ABI)
Storm damage to homes specifically cost £244 million in 2025, a 32% increase year on year.
The average storm damage insurance payout reached £2,450 in 2025.
Weather damage accounts for roughly 19% of all home insurance claims in the UK.
Most home insurance policies cover damage caused by falling trees as standard, including removal of the fallen tree.
Most policies do not cover damage caused during tree surgery (i.e. by a tree surgeon's mistake). This is why professional indemnity and public liability insurance matter.
Tree root subsidence claims are a growing category for UK insurers, particularly in the South East where clay soils shrink during dry summers.
After major storms (such as Storm Amy in October 2025), emergency tree surgery demand can spike by 300 to 500% within 48 hours, based on industry reports and our own call volume at Capel.

Tree preservation orders (TPOs)

A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) makes it a criminal offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, or deliberately damage a protected tree without the local planning authority's consent.
Fines for unauthorised work on a TPO tree can reach £20,000 in a magistrates' court, or be unlimited in the Crown Court.
There is no single national register of all TPOs. Each local authority maintains its own records.
The UK government's Planning Data platform is building a national dataset, but coverage is still patchy.
Maidstone alone has over 1,000 active TPOs. Oxford has over 250. Numbers vary enormously by council.
Trees in conservation areas are also protected, even without a specific TPO. You must give the council 6 weeks' notice before carrying out most work.
From our experience at Capel, roughly 1 in 5 domestic tree jobs in Surrey involves a tree that is either subject to a TPO or sits in a conservation area. In Horsham, the figure is lower but still significant around the town centre and village-edge plots.

Common reasons trees fail

The most common reason for emergency tree work in the UK is wind damage: branches torn off, stems split, or whole trees uprooted.
The second most common is structural failure from decay: the tree looks fine from outside but the interior has rotted, usually from a fungal infection.
Honey fungus (Armillaria) is the most widespread tree-killing pathogen in the UK. It attacks roots and can kill trees of all species.
Root severance from construction, paving, or utility work is a frequent cause of delayed tree failure. The tree can take 3 to 10 years to show the full effect.
Subsidence caused by tree roots extracting moisture from clay soil is a major issue in the South East. London Plane, Oak, Willow, and Poplar are the most commonly implicated species.
Trees planted too close to buildings are the single most common reason homeowners call a tree surgeon, according to our own records at Capel. Not emergencies. Not disease. Just the wrong tree in the wrong place, given twenty years to prove it.

UK trees by the numbers

The UK has approximately 3.2 billion trees. (Forest Research)
Woodland covers about 13% of the UK's land area, compared to an EU average of around 38%.
England's woodland cover is approximately 10%, the lowest of any UK nation.
The most common broadleaf trees in England are Oak, Ash, Birch, and Beech.
The UK government has a target to plant 30,000 hectares of new woodland per year by the end of the decade.
Urban trees are estimated to provide the UK with ecosystem services worth over £1 billion per year, including air quality, cooling, and flood management.

Useful benchmarks for homeowners

A reputable tree surgeon should carry a minimum of £5 million public liability insurance. Many carry £10 million. If they cannot show you a certificate, walk away.
The HSE recommends that all tree work over 3 metres should be carried out by trained, insured professionals. There is no legal minimum, but the liability implications of DIY tree work above head height are serious.
A proper tree survey (BS5837) for a planning application typically costs £300 to £600, depending on the number of trees and site complexity.
The best time to prune most deciduous trees is during dormancy, between November and February. The worst time is during active spring growth.
If a neighbour's tree overhangs your property, you have the legal right to cut back to the boundary line, but you must return the cuttings. If the tree has a TPO, you need council consent first.

About this page

This statistics page is maintained by Capel Tree Surgeons, based near Horsham in West Sussex. We have been working across Sussex and Surrey since 1982.

If you are a journalist, blogger, or researcher and want to cite any of these figures, go ahead. If you spot something outdated or want to suggest an addition, contact us.

Last updated: June 2026.

Guides like this are written and checked in-house by people who actually do the work. See our editorial policy for how we keep them accurate.

75 UK Tree Surgery Statistics (2026): Costs, Safety & Data