The Swiss National Forest Inventory (NFI) is expected to provide reliable data about the current state of the Swiss forests and recent changes. Since the first Swiss NFI (1982-1986) a deadwood assessment has been part of the inventory. However, the definition of deadwood used was restricted and only parts of the total deadwood volume were assessed. A broader definition was therefore used in the second NFI (1993-1995) and coarse wood debris (CWD) was also assessed using line intersect sampling in the third NFI (2004-2006). This paper discusses the development of the definition of deadwood from the first to the third Swiss NFI, as well as the tally rules and estimators used in assessing deadwood in the ongoing third NFI. Different definitions of deadwood were applied in two Swiss regions and the resulting volume estimates were compared. The definition of deadwood appears to be crucial for the estimate of deadwood volumes, which were significantly underestimated in the first and second Swiss NFI. The minimum diameter and other limits applied must be chosen with special care. Up to 30 m³/ha of deadwood was found in Swiss forests varying with the region. There was little evidence of significant correlations between deadwood volume and such forest parameters as management, site or stand attributes. The proposed target values for the volume of deadwood have been generally reached, whereas the number of snags per hectare has not.