Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in forest floors and in mineral and peat forest soils were estimated at the European scale. The assessment was based on measured C concentration, bulk density, coarse fragments and effective soil depth data originating from 4914 plots in 22 EU countries belonging to the UN/ECE ICP Forests 16 × 16 km Level I network. Plots were sampled and analysed according to harmonized methods during the 2nd European Forest Soil Condition Survey. Using continuous carbon density depth functions, we estimated SOC stocks to 30-cm and 1-m depth, and stratified these stocks according to 22 WRB Reference Soil Groups (RSGs) and 8 humus forms to provide European scale benchmark values. Average SOC stocks amounted to 22.1 t C ha− 1 in forest floors, 108 t C ha− 1 in mineral soils and 578 t C ha− 1 in peat soils, to 1 m depth. Relative to 1-m stocks, the vertical SOC distribution confirmed global patterns reported for forest soils: ~ 50% of SOC was stored in the upper 20 cm, and ~ 55–65% in the upper 30 cm of soil. Assuming 163 Mha of European forest cover and by using various scaling up procedures, we estimated total stocks at 3.50–3.94 Gt C in forest floors and 21.4–22.7 Gt C in mineral and peat soils down to 1-m, which is ~ 40% more than commonly published. The most useful predictors and stratifiers for C stocks were humus form and tree species for the forest floor, RSG for mineral soils and parent material for peat soils.