A total of 220,000 people work in the wood processing industry in the western German state of North-Rhine Westphalia, a survey of Andreas Schulte, a Forest Ecology professor, showed in early December 2002. The wood processing companies in the state generate an annual turnover of 32 bln euro ($32.6 bln), the figures showed. The survey on North Rhine-Westphalia wood processing industry was the first of its kind and proved the great significance of the industry for the state, Schulte said. Despite the abundance of wood in North Rhine-Westphalia annual imports total 640,000 cu m, the survey said. Wooden houses have a 7.0 pct share of all houses in the state, compared to an average of 13.3 pct in Germany. Schulte called for a greater support from the state authorities to local wood-processing companies to make better use of the state wood resources.