Quick answer: Most of the world's paper is made in Asia, which produced 53.9% of the 423 million tonnes of paper and paperboard made in 2024. Mainland China alone made 136.25 million tonnes, about a third of the total, followed by the United States, India, Japan and Germany (FAOSTAT 2024).
This guide ranks the top paper producing countries using the latest official country data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), then breaks the ranking down by grade (tissue, containerboard, graphic paper) and by pulp. It also shows how the ranking changed over ten years, which explains a lot about where the industry is heading.
Top 10 Paper Producing Countries (2024)
Source: FAOSTAT Forestry Production and Trade, paper and paperboard production, 2024 (released April 2026). *FAO estimate. "Change since 2014" is a WPM calculation from the same dataset.
Just outside the top 10 sit Sweden (8.07 Mt), Italy (7.98 Mt) and Finland (6.93 Mt). Sweden and Finland ranked much higher a decade ago. Both have closed large graphic-paper machines, and Finland's output has fallen by about a third since 2014.
China moved into first place in 2009, when it made 86.4 million tonnes against 71.4 million in the United States, and its lead has widened every year since (FAOSTAT). India passed Japan in 2024 to take third place.
What 10 Years of Data Show (2014 to 2024)
World paper output grew only 4.8% in ten years, from 403.7 to 423.0 million tonnes. Underneath that small number, the industry changed shape:
- Production moved to Asia. Mainland China's share rose from 25.9% to 32.2%, and India grew 54%. Japan, the United States, Germany, Canada, Sweden and Finland all make less paper than in 2014.
- Printing paper collapsed. World output of graphic papers (newsprint plus printing and writing) fell from 129.4 to 85.1 million tonnes, a 34% drop. In the United States it fell 62%, from 17.28 to 6.58 million tonnes.
- Packaging took over. Over the same years US containerboard ("case materials" in FAO data) rose from 32.08 to 34.26 million tonnes. Many mills that once made printing paper now make board, or have closed.
All figures: FAOSTAT, 2014 and 2024, WPM calculation. If you are tracking the closures behind these numbers, see our report on paper mill closures and industry restructuring.
Paper Production by Region (2024)
Source: FAOSTAT, 2024. FAO's "Europe" includes Russia; Central America and Caribbean is the Americas total minus Northern and South America (WPM calculation).
Asia: Where Most Paper Is Made
Asia makes more paper than the rest of the world combined, led by mainland China, India, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. China's growth has been so fast that its exports now push prices down in other markets. For the details, see our analysis of China's paper overcapacity and its effect on global markets.
India is the fastest-growing large producer in the top 10. The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association puts India at about 5% of world output, with paper use of only around 16 kg per person against a 57 kg global average, which leaves plenty of room to grow (IPMA). Read more about the growth of the paper industry in India.
Europe: Smaller, More Specialised
Europe is the second-largest region, led by Germany, Russia, Sweden, Italy and Finland. Output is drifting down as graphic paper fades: mills in Cepi member countries produced 77.4 million tonnes in 2025, 1.6% less than in 2024 (Cepi Key Statistics 2025). European mills focus on packaging board, specialty papers and high-quality pulp.
Northern America: The Containerboard Base
The United States and Canada together produce about a sixth of the world's paper. The region's strength is containerboard and kraft packaging, built on large integrated pulp and paper mills. The merger that created Smurfit Westrock changed the ranking of the world's largest paper manufacturers.
South America: The Pulp Exporter
South America makes 4% of the world's paper but far more of its pulp. Brazil is the world's largest pulp exporter (see below), and Chile and Uruguay are also major exporters of eucalyptus pulp.
Top Producers by Paper Grade (2024)
The overall ranking hides big differences by grade. These are the top five countries for each of the three main grade groups.
Tissue Paper Production by Country
Containerboard Production by Country
FAO groups linerboard, kraftliner, testliner and fluting together as "case materials", the board used to make corrugated boxes.
Graphic Paper Production by Country
Graphic papers cover newsprint and printing and writing papers, coated and uncoated.
Source for all three tables: FAOSTAT, production by grade, 2024. Containerboard alone is now 45% of all paper and paperboard made worldwide (192.4 of 423.0 million tonnes, WPM calculation). To see how each grade is made, read our guides to the tissue paper manufacturing process and the kraft paper manufacturing process.
Top Pulp Producing and Exporting Countries (2024)
Pulp and paper rankings are not the same. Some countries make far more pulp than they turn into paper at home, and sell the rest abroad.
Source: FAOSTAT, wood pulp production and export quantity, 2024.
Brazil exports about three-quarters of the pulp it makes (19.69 of 26.67 million tonnes, WPM calculation), mostly bleached eucalyptus kraft. China is the opposite case. It is the second-largest pulp producer, yet in 2024 it imported 30.26 million tonnes of wood pulp, more than the 27.34 million tonnes it made at home (FAOSTAT), to keep its paper mills running. For the basics of what pulp is and how it differs from paper, see our guide to the difference between pulp and paper.
Raw Materials by Country
The main fibre source depends on each country's forests and how its industry grew:
- China, Japan, South Korea and Germany run heavily on recycled fibre, topped up with imported pulp
- United States and Canada combine large softwood and hardwood forests with high paper recovery
- Brazil, Chile and Uruguay grow plantation eucalyptus, mostly for export pulp
- Sweden, Finland and Canada are the main sources of long-fibre softwood pulp
- India and Indonesia mix recycled fibre with agro-residues (bagasse, straw) and plantation wood
Recycling is concentrated in the same places as production. Mainland China collected 69.72 million tonnes of recovered paper in 2024, the United States 40.69 and Japan 16.66, out of 241.3 million tonnes worldwide (FAOSTAT). In India, recycled fibre makes up 74–76% of the fibre mills use (IPMA).
For the full picture of what goes into a sheet, see what paper is made of and our raw materials for the paper industry guide.
How We Compiled These Figures
- Source: all country rankings use FAOSTAT Forestry Production and Trade, the FAO's official country database, in its April 2026 release covering 2024.
- Estimates: FAO marks some countries' figures as estimates (Indonesia, Russia, Canada and Finland for 2024). Indonesia's figure has been unchanged since 2022, which usually means the country has not reported newer data.
- China: we use "China, mainland". FAO's wider "China" total (140.30 Mt) also includes Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.
- Why totals differ between sources: FAO puts world production at 423.0 million tonnes for 2024. Cepi, using Fastmarkets data, reports 430.9 million tonnes (Cepi Key Statistics 2025). The gap comes from different country coverage and methods, so compare figures within one source, not across sources.
- National figures: industry associations sometimes report fiscal years or different grade groupings, so their numbers can differ slightly from FAO's.
References & Sources
- FAOSTAT Forestry Production and Trade: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2024 data, released April 2026
- Cepi Key Statistics 2025: Confederation of European Paper Industries, July 2026
- IPMA Indian paper industry overview: Indian Paper Manufacturers Association
