Production volume of paper and paperboard worldwide from 2010 to 2020

The global production volume of paper and paperboard was approximately 401 million metric tons in 2020. This was a decrease of nearly one percent compared with the previous year. Since 2010, global production of paper and paperboard has remained relatively stable, averaging roughly 400 million metric tons per year.

Global paper producing regions

China is the world’s largest paper producer by far, with a production volume of 110 million metric tons in 2018. The United States is second, producing 72 million metric tons in the same year. Japan distantly takes the third place. China’s paper production far outweighs all other paper producers, and as a whole, Asia dominates regional global paper production, with a 47 percent share. While the adoption of technology has reduced the global consumption of certain types of paper such as newsprint, the overall consumption, and therefore production, of paper is growing. For example, packaging paper and board production has steadily increased in the past decade, while graphic paper production has steadily declined in that time.

End uses of paper

When broken down by grade, corrugated material accounts for the largest share of paper produced worldwide, at nearly 40 percent. Printing and writing paper is the second most produced paper grade, accounting for approximately a quarter of the global production.