The global production volume of paper and paperboard was approximately million metric tons in 2024. This was a decrease in comparison to the previous year. Since 2010, global production of paper and paperboard has remained relatively stable, averaging roughly million metric tons per year.
Global paper producing regions
China is the world’s largest paper producer by far, with a production output of million metric tons in 2024. The United States ranked second that year, producing million metric tons of paper. China’s paper production far outweighs all other paper producers and, as a whole, Asia dominates regional global paper production. 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 roughly percent. Printing and writing paper is the second most produced paper grade, accounting for over percent of the global production.