Overall that dollar amount results from a 19% upturn for all exporting countries since 2018 when worldwide paper shipments were valued at $177.2 billion.
From 2021 to 2022, the value of overall paper exports increased by 12.8% compared to $187 billion for 2021.
The top 5 paper exporters are mainland China, Germany, United States of America, Italy and Sweden. That leading subgroup generated 44.6% of globally exported paper in 2022.
From a continental perspective, European countries sold the highest value among paper exporters during 2022 with shipments valued at $115.5 billion (54.8% of overall paper exports). In second place were suppliers in Asia at 28.1% of worldwide paper deliveries ahead of North America at another 13.2%.
Smaller percentages came from sellers in Latin America (2.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (0.9%), then Oceania (0.5%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 48 for paper and paperboard. Included are articles made from pulp, paper and paperboard like boxes.
Paper Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of paper during 2022.
- China: US$31.6 billion (15% of total paper exports)
- Germany: $25.4 billion (12%)
- United States: $17 billion (8.1%)
- Italy: $10.1 billion (4.8%)
- Sweden: $9.9 billion (4.7%)
- Canada: $8.5 billion (4%)
- Finland: $8 billion (3.8%)
- France: $7.7 billion (3.6%)
- Poland: $7 billion (3.3%)
- Netherlands: $6.5 billion (3.1%)
- Austria: $6.1 billion (2.9%)
- Belgium: $5.67 billion (2.7%)
- Spain: $5.59 billion (2.7%)
- Indonesia: $4.8 billion (2.3%)
- United Kingdom: $3.2 billion (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped roughly three-quarters (74.5%) of international paper exports in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing paper exporters since 2021 were: mainland China (up 30.9%), Italy (up 24.4%), Canada (up 17.4%) and Austria (up 17.1%).
Netherlands was the lone major supplier to post a decline in its exported paper sales, recording a -1.7% reduction from 2021.
Searchable List of Paper Exporting Countries
The top 100 export nations supplying paper account for 99.9% of the total value of exported paper during 2022.
| Rank | Exporter | Paper Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $31,632,175,000 | +30.9% |
| 2. | Germany | $25,393,125,000 | +11.9% |
| 3. | United States | $16,984,547,000 | +10.6% |
| 4. | Italy | $10,129,676,000 | +24.4% |
| 5. | Sweden | $9,852,560,000 | +7.2% |
| 6. | Canada | $8,470,011,000 | +17.4% |
| 7. | Finland | $8,046,465,000 | +1.8% |
| 8. | France | $7,687,073,000 | +11.2% |
| 9. | Poland | $7,030,093,000 | +15.3% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $6,526,791,000 | -1.7% |
| 11. | Austria | $6,141,124,000 | +17.1% |
| 12. | Belgium | $5,670,744,000 | +11.8% |
| 13. | Spain | $5,590,284,000 | +12.1% |
| 14. | Indonesia | $4,807,420,000 | +13.9% |
| 15. | United Kingdom | $3,175,841,000 | +10.9% |
| 16. | India | $3,142,276,000 | +6.3% |
| 17. | Portugal | $3,082,426,000 | +29.7% |
| 18. | South Korea | $2,958,989,000 | +10.4% |
| 19. | Türkiye | $2,843,396,000 | +31.5% |
| 20. | Russia | $2,822,087,000 | -10.5% |
| 21. | Japan | $2,771,003,000 | -5.5% |
| 22. | Brazil | $2,699,487,000 | +41.7% |
| 23. | Czech Republic | $2,461,450,000 | +17.2% |
| 24. | Mexico | $2,288,120,000 | +22% |
| 25. | Vietnam | $2,212,315,000 | +30.5% |
| 26. | Taiwan | $1,645,797,000 | +5.4% |
| 27. | Malaysia | $1,550,362,000 | +10% |
| 28. | Thailand | $1,517,092,000 | +3.2% |
| 29. | Slovakia | $1,441,685,000 | +25.4% |
| 30. | Hungary | $1,358,848,000 | +19.1% |
| 31. | Switzerland | $1,260,351,000 | +18.4% |
| 32. | Singapore | $1,052,605,000 | -29.7% |
| 33. | Slovenia | $974,652,000 | +21.7% |
| 34. | Denmark | $933,293,000 | +1.1% |
| 35. | Hong Kong | $774,090,000 | -26.4% |
| 36. | Australia | $748,487,000 | -2.3% |
| 37. | Serbia | $736,421,000 | +28.2% |
| 38. | Romania | $734,270,000 | +29.3% |
| 39. | South Africa | $641,980,000 | +8.1% |
| 40. | Chile | $604,214,000 | +20.7% |
| 41. | United Arab Emirates | $575,521,000 | -58.7% |
| 42. | Greece | $575,112,000 | +40.4% |
| 43. | Luxembourg | $553,446,000 | +17% |
| 44. | Norway | $538,978,000 | +19.2% |
| 45. | Laos | $490,919,000 | -7.2% |
| 46. | Croatia | $478,385,000 | +20.1% |
| 47. | Lithuania | $471,210,000 | +11.1% |
| 48. | Egypt | $466,847,000 | +12.5% |
| 49. | El Salvador | $418,418,000 | +8.6% |
| 50. | Guatemala | $415,583,000 | +16.7% |
| 51. | Bulgaria | $405,055,000 | +14.6% |
| 52. | New Zealand | $312,472,000 | +4.3% |
| 53. | Ireland | $286,602,000 | +7.2% |
| 54. | Colombia | $263,757,000 | +3.1% |
| 55. | Ukraine | $256,027,000 | -45.2% |
| 56. | Argentina | $248,213,000 | +3.3% |
| 57. | Saudi Arabia | $242,098,000 | -64.7% |
| 58. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $231,500,000 | +19.6% |
| 59. | Estonia | $206,164,000 | +10.3% |
| 60. | Latvia | $173,763,000 | +1.9% |
| 61. | Costa Rica | $162,532,000 | +44.3% |
| 62. | Israel | $157,662,000 | -0.4% |
| 63. | Tunisia | $150,813,000 | -14% |
| 64. | Dominican Republic | $138,116,000 | +6.8% |
| 65. | Belarus | $126,486,000 | -52.8% |
| 66. | Jordan | $119,608,000 | +6.7% |
| 67. | Morocco | $119,138,000 | +8.9% |
| 68. | Peru | $117,730,000 | +20.8% |
| 69. | Philippines | $110,548,000 | +21.2% |
| 70. | Pakistan | $102,189,000 | +59% |
| 71. | Ivory Coast | $94,128,000 | +3.1% |
| 72. | Honduras | $91,278,000 | -2.3% |
| 73. | Kenya | $85,125,000 | +37.4% |
| 74. | Trinidad/Tobago | $84,318,000 | +26.7% |
| 75. | Albania | $76,326,000 | +33.7% |
| 76. | Panama | $73,912,000 | +1% |
| 77. | Sri Lanka | $67,716,000 | -5.5% |
| 78. | Paraguay | $65,441,000 | -66.4% |
| 79. | Uzbekistan | $64,322,000 | +135.9% |
| 80. | Lebanon | $59,863,000 | +8.2% |
| 81. | Tanzania | $59,430,000 | -7.7% |
| 82. | Ecuador | $58,650,000 | +32.1% |
| 83. | Kazakhstan | $56,926,000 | +56.6% |
| 84. | Bahrain | $45,242,000 | +3.3% |
| 85. | Cambodia | $36,067,000 | +58.6% |
| 86. | Bangladesh | $35,338,000 | +49.7% |
| 87. | Algeria | $33,916,000 | +92% |
| 88. | North Macedonia | $33,242,000 | +22.1% |
| 89. | Uruguay | $29,377,000 | +48.9% |
| 90. | Qatar | $28,670,000 | +41.7% |
| 91. | Iran | $24,864,000 | -79.3% |
| 92. | Bolivia | $24,140,000 | +70.9% |
| 93. | Moldova | $22,896,000 | +60.8% |
| 94. | Ghana | $22,676,000 | -4.9% |
| 95. | Uganda | $21,936,000 | -1.6% |
| 96. | Senegal | $18,158,000 | -49.1% |
| 97. | Barbados | $18,145,000 | +0.7% |
| 98. | Oman | $17,685,000 | -58.8% |
| 99. | Kuwait | $15,871,000 | -82.6% |
| 100. | Eswatini | $15,044,000 | +344.7% |
Focusing on the top 100 paper exporters, the fastest growers were the southern African nation Eswatini (up 344.7% from 2021), Uzbekistan (up 135.9%), Algeria (up 92%), Bolivia (up 70.9%), Moldova (up 60.8%) and Pakistan (up 59%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icons at the top of the above table’s columns.
An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2021 data is available.
Countries Generating Highest Trade Surpluses from Paper
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for paper during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s paper exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$24.7 billion (net export surplus up 60.7% since 2021)
- Germany: $9.4 billion (up 13.2%)
- Sweden: $7.9 billion (up 5.8%)
- Finland: $7.4 billion (up 1.8%)
- Austria: $3.3 billion (up 21.2%)
- Indonesia: $3 billion (up 11.9%)
- Brazil: $1.8 billion (up 65.5%)
- Italy: $1.39 billion (down -31.4%)
- Portugal: $1.39 billion (up 46.4%)
- Canada: $1.32 billion (up 6.8%)
- Russia: $793.8 million (up 77.2%)
- South Korea: $701.3 million (up 54.2%)
- Laos: $416.8 million (down -1.2%)
- Slovakia: $394.5 million (up 86%)
- Spain: $341.3 million (down -43%)
Mainland China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of paper. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Largest Trade Deficits from Paper
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for paper during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s paper import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United Kingdom: -US$6.2 billion (net export deficit up 46.6% since 2021)
- United States: -$5.4 billion (up 125.9%)
- Mexico: -$5.3 billion (up 21.6%)
- France: -$3.4 billion (up 42.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$1.62 billion (up 1239.7%)
- Australia: -$1.56 billion (up 15.5%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$1.46 billion (up 59.1%)
- Vietnam: -$1.45 billion (up 10.6%)
- Philippines: -$1.43 billion (up 14%)
- Switzerland: -$1.37 billion (up 11.1%)
- Türkiye: -$1.2 billion (up 109.5%)
- Ireland: -$1.1 billion (up 26.9%)
- Greece: -$1.03 billion (up 26.4%)
- Morocco: -$1 billion (up 36.3%)
- Peru: -$958.3 million (up 80.8%)
The United Kingdom endured the highest deficit in the international trade of paper. In turn, these negative cashflows confirm the UK’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category. This insight signals opportunities for paper-supplying countries to help satisfy the powerful demand.
Paper Exporting Companies
Below are global paper-processing conglomerates that represent the largest players in the worldwide paper market trade. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- DS Smith (United Kingdom)
- International Paper (United States)
- Nippon Paper (Japan)
- Oji Paper (Japan)
- RockTenn (United States)
- Sappi (South Africa)
- Smurfit Kappa Group (Ireland)
- Stora Enzo (Finland)
- Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (Sweden)
- UPM (Finland)
Companies are sorted by paper and board production by weight based on predicted tonnage from final statistics.
See also Paper Imports by Country, Sawn Wood Exports by Country, Top Cork Exporting Countries, Top Toilet Paper Exporters by Country and Top Paint Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 28, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 28, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 28, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 28, 2023
Wikipedia, Paper. Accessed on September 28, 2023
Wikipedia, Pulp and paper industry. Accessed on September 28, 2023
