The picking of wild berries in Finland in 1997 and 1998

Nation-wide figures related to berry-picking in Finland were based on posta l questionnaire surveys carried out in 1997 and 1998. The sample in 1997 co nsisted of 6849 households and the response rate was 60%. The questionnaire was concerned with the utilization of all non-wood forest products. In 199 8, a subsample of 1855 households was taken and the new questionnaire focus ed solely on berries and mushrooms. The response rate was 69%. In 1997, Fin nish households picked 56.5 million kg of wild berries (95% confidence limi ts were 52.3 and 60.4 million kg). In 1998, a total of 49.7 million kg (44. 0, 55.3) was picked. In 1997 the proportion of products sold was 27%, harve sted by 5% of households. It is possible that the quantity of wild berries picked in 1997 was higher than in any year previously, but because of a lac k of reliable earlier data this cannot be verified.