Overall that dollar amount results from a 10.1% upturn for all exporting countries from 5 years earlier in 2019 when worldwide paper shipments were valued at $170.2 billion.
From 2022 to 2023, the value of overall paper exports fell by -11.8% compared to $212.5 billion starting in 2022.
The top 5 paper exporters are mainland China, Germany, United States of America, Sweden and Italy. That leading subgroup generated 44.7% of globally exported paper in 2023.
From a continental perspective, European countries sold the highest value among paper exporters during 2023 with shipments valued at $99.4 billion (53% of overall paper exports). In second place were suppliers in Asia at 29.4% of worldwide paper deliveries ahead of those located in North America at another 13.3%.
Smaller percentages came from sellers in Latin America (2.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1%), then Oceania (0.4%) 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 2023.
- mainland China: US$29.2 billion (15.6% of total paper exports)
- Germany: $22.3 billion (11.9%)
- United States: $15 billion (8%)
- Sweden: $9 billion (4.8%)
- Italy: $8.2 billion (4.4%)
- Canada: $7.9 billion (4.2%)
- Finland: $6.8 billion (3.6%)
- France: $6.7 billion (3.6%)
- Poland: $6.4 billion (3.4%)
- Netherlands: $5.6 billion (3%)
- Austria: $4.9 billion (2.6%)
- Spain: $4.85 billion (2.6%)
- Indonesia: $4.79 billion (2.6%)
- Belgium: $4.68 billion (2.5%)
- United Kingdom: $2.8 billion (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped almost three-quarters (74.3%) of international paper exports in 2023.
Among the top exporters, paper exporters that generated the most modest declines since 2022 were: Indonesia (down -0.3%), Canada (down -6.5%), mainland China (down -7.5%) and Sweden (down -8.1%).
Those countries that posted the severest declines in their exported paper sales were led by: Austria (down -19.5% from 2022), Belgium (down -17.4%), Finland (down -15.8%), Netherlands (down -14%) and France (down -13.5%).
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 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Paper Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | mainland China | $29,245,966,000 | -7.5% |
| 2. | Germany | $22,317,453,000 | -13.3% |
| 3. | United States | $14,967,434,000 | -11.9% |
| 4. | Sweden | $9,046,628,000 | -8.1% |
| 5. | Italy | $8,225,276,000 | -12.9% |
| 6. | Canada | $7,922,791,000 | -6.5% |
| 7. | Finland | $6,795,909,000 | -15.8% |
| 8. | France | $6,667,003,000 | -13.5% |
| 9. | Poland | $6,387,214,000 | -9.1% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $5,600,198,000 | -14% |
| 11. | Austria | $4,911,242,000 | -19.5% |
| 12. | Spain | $4,849,409,000 | -13.3% |
| 13. | Indonesia | $4,794,004,000 | -0.3% |
| 14. | Belgium | $4,683,659,000 | -17.4% |
| 15. | United Kingdom | $2,779,079,000 | -12.5% |
| 16. | South Korea | $2,775,673,000 | -6.2% |
| 17. | India | $2,648,763,000 | -15.7% |
| 18. | Türkiye | $2,531,542,000 | -11% |
| 19. | Portugal | $2,482,527,000 | -19.4% |
| 20. | Vietnam | $2,423,862,000 | +27.7% |
| 21. | Brazil | $2,368,799,000 | -12.3% |
| 22. | Japan | $2,261,814,000 | -18.4% |
| 23. | Czech Republic | $2,225,759,000 | -9% |
| 24. | Mexico | $2,134,082,000 | -6.7% |
| 25. | Malaysia | $1,809,272,000 | +16.7% |
| 26. | Russia | $1,732,058,000 | -39.9% |
| 27. | Thailand | $1,527,346,000 | +0.7% |
| 28. | Taiwan | $1,388,596,000 | -15.6% |
| 29. | Slovakia | $1,310,366,000 | -9.3% |
| 30. | Hungary | $1,289,775,000 | -5.5% |
| 31. | Singapore | $1,155,062,000 | +9.7% |
| 32. | Switzerland | $1,056,723,000 | -16.2% |
| 33. | Denmark | $964,931,000 | +3.8% |
| 34. | Slovenia | $824,021,000 | -15.4% |
| 35. | Serbia | $674,799,000 | -8.4% |
| 36. | South Africa | $669,285,000 | +4.3% |
| 37. | Greece | $663,986,000 | +15.5% |
| 38. | Romania | $658,722,000 | -10.3% |
| 39. | Hong Kong | $606,425,000 | -21.7% |
| 40. | Australia | $604,370,000 | -19.3% |
| 41. | Chile | $562,934,000 | -6.8% |
| 42. | United Arab Emirates | $473,351,000 | -72.3% |
| 43. | Laos | $455,572,000 | -8.3% |
| 44. | Guatemala | $449,029,000 | +10.5% |
| 45. | Luxembourg | $426,732,000 | -22.9% |
| 46. | Croatia | $426,321,000 | -10.9% |
| 47. | Lithuania | $419,206,000 | -11% |
| 48. | Egypt | $398,636,000 | -19.6% |
| 49. | El Salvador | $388,819,000 | -7.1% |
| 50. | Norway | $385,656,000 | -28.4% |
| 51. | Colombia | $372,852,000 | +3.2% |
| 52. | Bulgaria | $328,101,000 | -19% |
| 53. | Ireland | $285,581,000 | -1.8% |
| 54. | Saudi Arabia | $249,610,000 | -62.3% |
| 55. | Ukraine | $214,947,000 | -16% |
| 56. | Tunisia | $210,426,000 | -7.2% |
| 57. | New Zealand | $205,806,000 | -34.1% |
| 58. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $186,793,000 | -19.3% |
| 59. | Jordan | $182,984,000 | +8.6% |
| 60. | Estonia | $162,516,000 | -21.1% |
| 61. | Argentina | $161,922,000 | -34.8% |
| 62. | Latvia | $143,897,000 | -17.1% |
| 63. | Costa Rica | $143,730,000 | -11.6% |
| 64. | Honduras | $135,232,000 | 0% |
| 65. | Israel | $133,989,000 | -15.6% |
| 66. | Morocco | $132,795,000 | +11.5% |
| 67. | Peru | $119,641,000 | +0.7% |
| 68. | Dominican Republic | $116,277,000 | -15.8% |
| 69. | Belarus | $97,959,000 | -23.7% |
| 70. | Philippines | $95,690,000 | -13.4% |
| 71. | Trinidad/Tobago | $88,705,000 | +5.2% |
| 72. | Ivory Coast | $88,690,000 | -5.8% |
| 73. | Kenya | $78,948,000 | -7.3% |
| 74. | Panama | $66,003,000 | -10.7% |
| 75. | Sri Lanka | $64,754,000 | -4.4% |
| 76. | Paraguay | $64,674,000 | -1.2% |
| 77. | Albania | $63,483,000 | -16.8% |
| 78. | Pakistan | $56,650,000 | -44.6% |
| 79. | Cambodia | $51,828,000 | +43.7% |
| 80. | Kazakhstan | $51,217,000 | -10% |
| 81. | Ecuador | $44,527,000 | -24.1% |
| 82. | Bahrain | $42,660,000 | -5.7% |
| 83. | Algeria | $42,233,000 | -10.9% |
| 84. | Djibouti | $41,217,000 | +48.3% |
| 85. | Bangladesh | $31,541,000 | -16.3% |
| 86. | North Macedonia | $28,797,000 | -13.4% |
| 87. | Uruguay | $27,867,000 | -5.1% |
| 88. | Ghana | $27,437,000 | -9.4% |
| 89. | Uganda | $25,574,000 | +16.6% |
| 90. | Lebanon | $25,441,000 | -57.4% |
| 91. | Moldova | $25,025,000 | +10.2% |
| 92. | Uzbekistan | $23,351,000 | -63.7% |
| 93. | Senegal | $19,624,000 | +8.1% |
| 94. | Tanzania | $19,337,000 | -67.5% |
| 95. | Venezuela | $18,891,000 | +95.5% |
| 96. | Zimbabwe | $18,188,000 | +48.8% |
| 97. | Barbados | $17,248,000 | -4.9% |
| 98. | Eswatini | $15,458,000 | +25.6% |
| 99. | Bolivia | $14,740,000 | -38.9% |
| 100. | Somalia | $14,028,000 | +11.8% |
Focusing on the top 100 paper exporters, the fastest growers were the Southern American nation Venezuela (up 95.5% from 2022), Zimbabwe (up 48.8%), Djibouti (up 48.3%), Cambodia (up 43.7%) and Vietnam (up 27.7%).
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 2022 data is available.
Countries Generating Highest Trade Surpluses from Paper
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for paper during 2023. 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.
- mainland China: US$22.3 billion (net export surplus down -9.5% since 2022)
- Germany: $7.5 billion (down -20.7%)
- Sweden: $7.4 billion (down -6%)
- Finland: $6.2 billion (down -16.1%)
- Indonesia: $3.2 billion (up 4.8%)
- Austria: $2.4 billion (down -28.9%)
- Brazil: $1.5 billion (down -17.8%)
- Canada: $1.2 billion (down -9.1%)
- Italy: $1.1 billion (down -18.7%)
- Portugal: $1 billion (down -27.1%)
- South Korea: $582.6 million (down -16.9%)
- Laos: $379.1 million (down -6.6%)
- Slovakia: $338.7 million (down -10.8%)
- Spain: $292.6 million (down -14.2%)
- Poland: $279.9 million (reversing a -$49.5 million deficit)
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 2023. 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$5.3 billion (net export deficit down -14.3% since 2022)
- Mexico: -$4.7 billion (down -11.2%)
- United States of America: -$4.2 billion (down -22.1%)
- France: -$3.3 billion (down -3.7%)
- Australia: -$1.6 billion (up 4.4%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$1.5 billion (up 283.3%)
- Switzerland: -$1.42 billion (up 3.1%)
- Philippines: -$1.38 billion (down -3%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$1.28 billion (down -18.4%)
- Ireland: -$1.1 billion (down -4.5%)
- Egypt: -$917 million (down -20.4%)
- Romania: -$854.5 million (down -9.8%)
- Nigeria: -$849.9 million (down -2.1%)
- Greece: -$761.5 million (down -25.8%)
- Morocco: -$736.5 million (down -26.6%)
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 October 31, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 31, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 31, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 31, 2024
Wikipedia, Paper. Accessed on October 31, 2024
Wikipedia, Pulp and paper industry. Accessed on October 31, 2024