The world consumes a staggering 400 million metric tons of paper each year. An individual consumes two pieces of paper every hour.

Even the notion that “paperless” offices aiding in reduction of paper consumption might be misleading as paper isn’t just office supplies. Paper bags, packaging material, gift wrap, paper towels, labels, newspapers and magazines – every commercial and non-commercial sector uses paper.

As per recent statistics, China and Hungary are the only two nations to produce paper pulp from straw. While five countries reported producing 1.287 million metric tons of “bagasse pulp” produced in 2015.

The stats also suggest that packaging materials comprise around 55% of the industry’s output. This article lists out the major producers and consumers of paper.

Top 5 Paper Producers

5. South Korea

The peninsular nation’s current paper production numbers hover over 11.569 million metric tons of paper, a marginal drop from the 11.653 million metric tons it produced in 2014.

4. Germany

Germany didn’t make it to the fourth rank just for production quantity, although significant. It is also the world’s largest exporter of paper and paper goods, standing at 22.608 million metric tons per year. Germany’s paper production and export relies heavily on the increasing demands for packaging material.

3. Japan

You may be aware of Chiyogami, Unryu and Ito-iri, aesthetically pleasing traditional Japanese art papers. Japan treasures its traditional papermakers. Although the Far East’s paper manufacturing industry has experienced decline due to electronics replacing paper, they still produce around 26.228 million metric tons of paper.

2. United States of America

Beginning in 1730, United States’ paper industry is older than the nation itself. Formerly the world’s top paper producer as well as top consumer, US paper takes second position with 72.397 million metric tons of paper produced.

The US mostly uses recovered fiber which is recycled or reclaimed paper, which accounts for 66.8% of the paper consumed.

The country recovered more than 52 million tons of paper as of now.

1. China

Back in 2004, China ranked second with 49.5 million metric tons. And just 13 years later, the thriving Chinese paper industry has more than doubled, reaching around 107.1 million metric tons of paper. This includes 8.85 million metric tons of household and sanitary paper. China’s paper export sales reportedly also increased. The nation might soon even overtake Germany as the number one paper exporter.