Yearly Tree Loss From Global Paper Production

Paper production is a major driver of global tree harvesting, accounting for a large share of the world’s felled timber. Various estimates indicate that roughly one-third of all trees cut globally are used to make paper products. This demand has grown dramatically over the past decades – global paper consumption has surged ~400% since 1960 – fueled by economic growth, population increases, and the rise of packaging needs. Today, the pulp and paper industry uses between 33–40% of all industrial wood traded worldwide and about 13–15% of total wood consumed globally. Crucially, this translates into billions of trees harvested each year specifically for paper production.

Importantly, paper demand comes from both industrial uses (e.g. packaging, shipping materials) and consumer uses (printing and writing paper, newspapers, books, tissue products, etc.). In recent years, industrial packaging has become the dominant segment – for instance, corrugated cardboard for e-commerce and shipping now makes up 40–45% of global paper output. Consumer paper (such as graphic printing papers, office paper, and household tissue) still constitutes a significant portion, though printing/writing papers have seen declines with digital media. Overall, the trend has been a shift from graphic papers to packaging and tissue, which affects how many fresh trees are needed: packaging often incorporates recycled fiber, whereas tissue and specialty papers may still rely on virgin pulp. High recycling rates in regions like Europe (where paper fibers are reused 3.5 times on average and nearly 79% of paper is recycled) have helped temper the need for new wood. Nonetheless, virgin wood pulp remains essential to meet global demand – fibers cannot be recycled indefinitely – so a constant infusion of trees from forests and plantations is required each year. Below we quantify the annual tree loss from paper production in the past four years (2021–2024) and break down contributions by country, encompassing both industrial and consumer paper use.

Global Paper Production and Tree Harvest (2021–2024)

Worldwide paper and paperboard consumption has remained above 400 million metric tons per year in the early 2020s. Table 1 summarizes the total paper consumption and the estimated number of trees harvested globally for paper production in each of the last four years:

Table 1. Global Paper Consumption vs. Estimated Trees Harvested (2021–2024)

Sources: FAO/industry data for consumption; WWF/Green America estimate for tree usage. 2023–2024 figures are estimates based on reported trends (see text). Actual tree harvest depends on recycling rates and yield per tree, so figures are rounded.

As shown above, global paper consumption hovered around 420 million tons annually in 2021–2022, dipped slightly in 2023, and likely recovered modestly in 2024. Each year, on the order of ~4 billion trees have been cut down to feed paper production. This staggering number – roughly four thousand million trees per year – has remained relatively steady, with minor year-to-year variation reflecting small shifts in paper output:

• 2021: Global paper demand rebounded strongly in 2021, reaching roughly 428–429 million tons (a record high after the 2020 pandemic dip). To supply this, about 4.0 billion trees were harvested worldwide for paper. This volume of tree cutting represents nearly 35% of all deforestation globally in that year. The high figure is linked to a surge in packaging and a partial return of print media after 2020.

• 2022: Paper consumption remained at record levels in 2022 (approximately 424 million tons globally, a slight 1.2% decline from 2021). Correspondingly, tree harvesting for paper stayed around 3.9–4.0 billion trees. In other words, roughly four billion trees were cut in 2022 for paper products – sustaining everything from cardboard boxes and office paper to tissues. Notably, 2021–2022 were peak years for the global paper trade, which drove intensive logging in pulp-producing regions.

• 2023: A downturn in paper demand occurred in 2023. The FAO reported a 3% drop in world paper and paperboard production that year, linked to economic slowdowns and the ongoing shift to digital media. Wood pulp output fell ~6% in 2023. Based on these trends, paper consumption in 2023 is estimated around 410–420 million tons, and the number of trees felled for paper likely dipped just below 4 billion (approximately 3.8–3.9 billion trees). Despite the slight reprieve, this is still an enormous toll – by analogy, nearly 7,200 trees were cut every minute in 2023 to make paper.

• 2024: In 2024, the industry saw a modest rebound. Analysts noted the paper sector “returned to growth in 2024,” with global pulp and paper output rising about 2–4% after the 2023 decline. This resurgence was driven by renewed packaging demand in early 2024. Thus, paper consumption likely climbed back into the low-420-million-ton range. The tree harvest for paper in 2024 is expected to be back around 4.0 billion (similar to 2021–2022 levels). However, signs of deceleration reappeared by late 2024, indicating that paper demand may be plateauing.

It is important to underscore that these “trees harvested” figures are approximate. They are derived from known global totals (e.g. ~4 billion trees/year for ~420 million tons) and reflect average industry conditions. The actual number of trees needed per ton of paper varies by factors like wood species and product type. Producing one ton of virgin paper can require anywhere from ~12 to 24 trees under different conditions. In practice, a significant fraction of paper fiber comes from recycled material (roughly 50% globally, and as high as 79% in Europe). This recycling substantially reduces the need for fresh trees. Thus, the ~4 billion trees/year estimate already accounts for the average recycling and yield – it implies that, on balance, each ton of paper consumed corresponded to about 9–10 new trees cut (since many fibers were reused multiple times). If no recycling were in place, the tree toll would be far higher. Even with recycling, the scale of tree use is enormous: for perspective, about 15 billion trees are cut down annually for all uses (including agriculture and timber), meaning paper alone has been consuming roughly one-third of all harvested trees. This exclusive focus on tree loss highlights the pressure paper demand places on forests, separate from other impacts like carbon emissions or biodiversity loss (which are outside the scope of this report).

Country-by-Country Breakdown of Tree Loss from Paper Production

Global paper consumption – and the associated harvesting of trees – is highly uneven across countries. A handful of nations account for the majority of paper use (and thus drive a large share of wood demand), while others are key producers of wood pulp and paper. Table 2 lists the top paper-consuming countries in the world and their recent usage levels:

Table 2. Top Paper-Consuming Countries in 2022 (Including Industrial & Consumer Use)

Sources: National industry statistics via FAO (for China, US, Japan); TonerBuzz/Statista (for Germany, India). “Others” include other European countries (e.g. Italy ~11.4 Mt, France ~8.3 Mt), Latin America, etc. Shares are rounded.

The United States and China together consume nearly half of the world’s paper. In 2022, China alone accounted for about one-third of global paper usage, surpassing 124 million tons (more than the next five countries combined). The U.S. was the second-largest user at roughly 66 million tons. High consumption in these countries translates to a very large tree footprint – directly through domestic logging and indirectly via imported pulp and paper. Below is a breakdown of how paper use in key countries drives tree loss, including distinctions between industrial vs. consumer uses:

• China: World’s largest paper consumer and producer. China’s paper and cardboard consumption reached ≈137.5 million tons in 2023 (about 33% of global consumption in that year). This reflects China’s rapid economic growth and booming industries that rely on paper. Industrial use is massive: China has the world’s biggest e-commerce market, and platforms like Alibaba and JD.com generate enormous demand for corrugated cardboard boxes and packaging materials. Packaging (a largely industrial use) dominates China’s paper production – containerboard and corrugated paper represent a huge fraction of output. On the consumer side, China also has a vast education system and print media sector (textbooks, newspapers, etc.) for 1.4+ billion people, as well as growing use of tissue and hygiene paper. This huge appetite for paper translates into extensive tree harvesting. China meets part of its fiber demand from domestic plantations, but it is also heavily reliant on imported wood pulp and recycled fiber. Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, and Chile are major suppliers of pulp to China, effectively exporting the tree loss. For example, Brazil’s pulp exports (over 20 million tons/year) are largely destined for China. Similarly, Indonesia’s pulp sector (which expanded ~46% since 2015) feeds Chinese paper mills, but not without environmental cost – Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry has cleared about 1 million hectares of natural forest since 2001 to establish plantations. In 2022 alone, pulp companies in one Indonesian province (Kalimantan) cleared 23,000 hectares of forest (roughly the area of Washington D.C.) to supply rising global demand. Much of that pulp ultimately was consumed in products in China and other countries. In sum, China’s outsized paper consumption is a primary driver of tree cutting both domestically and abroad.

• United States: The U.S. is the second-largest paper consumer (≈16% of world usage in 2022), with particularly high per-capita consumption (~198 kg per person per year in 2022). American paper demand is split between robust industrial use and consumer use. On the industrial side, the U.S. is a hub of e-commerce and retail shipping – companies like Amazon and Walmart generate huge need for packaging paper and cardboard. Nearly 40% of U.S. paper consumption is for packaging and shipping materials (corrugated boxes, etc.) Another large segment is printing & office paper (corporate offices, schools, and universities in the U.S. still utilize enormous quantities of printed documents, textbooks, and copy paper). Additionally, the U.S. has a substantial tissue and sanitary paper market – Americans use large volumes of tissue paper, paper towels, napkins, and other disposable paper products. All these uses combined mean that the U.S. harvests a significant number of trees annually for paper. The country has vast forest resources (especially in the South and Northwest) and a well-developed timber industry, so much of the fiber is sourced domestically. Estimates suggest the U.S. cuts down on the order of tens of millions of trees each year for paper; one analysis noted that U.S. paper production (which was ~78 million tons in 2021) involves roughly 36 million trees cut just for paper products in the U.S. annually. (This figure is likely conservative – other estimates, accounting for all paper grades and imports, put the number far higher, into the hundreds of millions of trees.) On a positive note, the U.S. also recycles about 65–68% of its paper, which mitigates virgin wood demand. Still, the scale of consumption means the U.S. paper industry has a very large forest footprint.

• Japan: Japan ranks third in paper consumption at 22.8 million tons in 2022. Per capita use in Japan (~184 kg in 2022) is among the highest in the world. Consumer and cultural usage is a big factor – despite digital advances, Japan maintains a strong preference for printed media (books, newspapers, magazines). The country has one of the world’s largest publishing industries, reflecting cultural trends that favor high-quality print. On the industrial side, Japan also has a thriving packaging sector; paper-based packaging is widely used for goods and retail products. Corporate and administrative paper usage remains significant as well (printed reports, forms, etc.). To support this demand, Japan relies on a mix of imported pulp and domestic timber (Japan’s forestry is smaller relative to consumption, so it imports pulp/paper from producers like Canada, the U.S., and Southeast Asia). The tree loss attributable to Japan’s paper use is thus distributed – forests in Canada or Indonesia might be cut to ultimately supply Japanese books or packaging. Domestically, Japan’s forest cover has actually been stable or increasing (many forests regrew after mid-20th century); however, its wood pulp imports embed deforestation from abroad. In summary, Japan’s high paper consumption (both consumer and industrial) drives substantial harvesting of trees, even if much of that impact is “offshore.”

• Germany: Germany is Europe’s largest paper producer and among the top consumers globally (~17–18 million tons annually). A strong industrial economy underpins Germany’s paper usage – its export-oriented manufacturing sector and logistics industry require vast amounts of packaging paper (for shipping products, automotive parts, etc.). Germany’s domestic consumer use is also considerable, with a large population that uses paper in offices, schools, and homes. However, Germany stands out for its emphasis on recycling and efficiency: over 75% of paper produced in Germany comes from recycled fiber. This high recycling rate means fewer new trees are cut for Germany’s needs compared to other nations with similar consumption. Nonetheless, to produce the remaining virgin pulp, Germany sources wood both domestically (from well-managed forests – German forest area has been stable) and through imports of pulp. Recent declines in graphic paper demand and a shift to digital have slightly reduced Germany’s paper production (it fell ~6.5% in 2022), but packaging demand remains high. In terms of tree loss, Germany’s impact is moderated by recycling, yet it still contributes to global wood harvest via its need for fresh pulp for packaging and specialty papers.

• India: India’s paper consumption is rising rapidly from a relatively low per-capita level (~12 kg/person). Total use was around 16–17 million tons in 2022 and is projected to grow to ~20 million tons within a few years. Key drivers are a growing population and education boom (more textbooks, notebooks, exams), increasing literacy and print media circulation, as well as an expanding economy that uses more packaging and print materials. Both industrial and consumer uses are growing in India: on one hand, the rise of e-commerce and manufacturing boosts packaging paper demand; on the other, government and business paperwork, educational print needs, and rising usage of tissue/hygiene products boost consumer paper usage. India has been investing in domestic paper mills and often uses plantation-grown wood (eucalyptus, acacia, etc.) and agricultural residues for pulp, but it still imports some pulp and waste paper. The environmental concern is that as India’s demand climbs, it could put pressure on forests if not managed sustainably. Currently, India’s forests are relatively protected in law, and much pulp comes from farm forestry (trees grown on marginal lands by farmers). This has so far limited large-scale deforestation for paper in India. However, to keep pace with demand, continued expansion of tree plantations is needed. The tree loss attributable to India’s paper use is thus mostly in planted sources – an important distinction, as those trees are grown for harvest (less impact on natural forests). Even so, converting land to plantations has its own ecological costs. India’s paper trajectory will be important to watch as it could substantially increase global wood harvest in coming years if growth continues at ~6–7% annually.

• Other Notable Countries: Beyond the top five, other countries each constitute a smaller slice of the paper pie but are still significant in aggregate. Indonesia and Brazil deserve special mention – not because their domestic consumption is top-ranked (they are large but not top three consumers), but because they are top producers of pulp and paper and thus hotspots of tree harvesting. Brazil, for instance, produced 23.1 million tons of wood pulp in 2021 (second only to the U.S.), mostly from fast-growing eucalyptus plantations. While Brazil’s native Amazon deforestation is driven primarily by agriculture, the pulp industry has expanded in other regions (e.g. the savanna/Cerrado and Atlantic forest) for plantations, which does involve land-use change. Brazil’s pulp exports (to China, Europe, etc.) mean that Brazilian trees are being cut to satisfy paper consumers worldwide. Similarly, Indonesia’s pulp & paper industry, as noted, has historically cleared rainforest to establish pulpwood plantations (acacia and eucalyptus). Even with zero-deforestation pledges in recent years, satellite data showed a fivefold jump in pulp-driven deforestation in Indonesia from 2017 to 2022, correlating with new mill capacity and global demand. This illustrates that tree loss for paper is a global supply chain issue – consumption in one country can cause trees to be felled in another. European countries like Italy, France, the UK, and others each consume between 7–11 million tons per year, but most have stable or slowly declining usage and high recycling, so their impact is more about imported pulp from abroad. Canada and the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden) are major pulp producers with relatively small populations; they supply markets in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The forests in these countries are managed for sustained yield, but harvesting still constitutes “tree loss” in the sense of removal (usually followed by replanting). According to one report, paper and wood products (combined) account for roughly 10% of global deforestation – far less than agriculture, but still a significant contributor. In tropical areas, the impact can be acute: for example, pulpwood harvesting is a leading driver of forest degradation in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.

In summary, the burden of tree loss from paper production is shared across many countries – through both direct consumption and international trade – but a few nations stand out. China, the U.S., Japan, and Germany consume the bulk of paper and thus indirectly “use” the most trees, whether those trees are cut at home or abroad. Meanwhile, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Sweden, Finland, Chile, and others are key locations where trees are actually harvested at large scale for pulp. Both industrial uses (like packaging) and consumer uses (like print media and tissue) contribute significantly to these totals, with packaging now slightly in the lead globally. The trend toward more packaging paper (due to e-commerce and delivery services) means that even as office paper or newsprint use declines, forests are still being cut for cardboard and shipping materials. Fortunately, packaging also tends to have high recycling rates (many cardboard boxes get recycled), which helps reduce net new tree cutting over time.

Trends in Paper Consumption and Tree Loss (Towards 2025)

Despite the digital revolution, paper demand has not fallen off a cliff – it is merely evolving. Graphic paper (newsprint, office paper) has been in secular decline (down ~33% worldwide from 2010 to 2021), which has somewhat eased pressure on forests for those uses. However, this reduction has been offset by strong growth in other paper segments, especially packaging and tissue. Between 2010 and 2021, global production of packaging paper and board grew about 30%. The COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in online shopping further boosted packaging needs. As a result, total paper and board consumption has remained high. Projections indicate a continued upward trajectory: from ~417 million tons in 2021 to roughly 476 million tons by 2032 (an ~14% increase.)

The implication for tree loss is that, without major changes, the paper industry will continue to harvest on the order of 4–5 billion trees each year going forward. However, some hopeful trends could mitigate the impact on forests:

• Increased Recycling & Efficiency: Many regions are improving paper recycling rates and using paper fiber more efficiently. As noted, Europe leads with ~79% recycling, and other regions are investing in recycling infrastructure. Higher recycling means less virgin wood is needed per unit of paper, reducing tree felling. Technological improvements in papermaking also allow using a mix of fiber sources (including agricultural residues or fast-growing grasses in some cases) to take pressure off forests.

• Plantation Forestry: A significant portion of pulp now comes from sustainably managed tree plantations rather than natural forest. Countries like Brazil, Indonesia, China, and South Africa have large pulpwood plantations (eucalyptus, acacia, pine) dedicated to paper production. While plantations still require land (sometimes converted from natural ecosystems), they can yield more fiber per hectare and be replanted in cycles, meaning they are a more renewable source of wood. The expansion of plantations has slowed direct deforestation in some areas – for example, much of the wood in North American and European paper comes from regrown forests or tree farms. Sustainability certifications (FSC, PEFC) have also pushed mills to avoid illegally or unsustainably harvested wood.

• Digital Substitution (to a point): The ongoing digitalization of media, billing, record-keeping, etc., continues to reduce demand for certain paper products (newsprint, copy paper). Younger generations read news online and opt for electronic documents, which in the long term should lower consumer paper use and thus tree harvest. However, the rise of e-commerce has simultaneously increased packaging, so the net effect has been a shift rather than a clear decrease in wood use.

• Global Initiatives to Curb Deforestation: As of 2025, international efforts are ramping up to disconnect commodities from deforestation. Notably, the EU’s Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR) will in coming years require importers of products like paper to ensure they are not sourced from recently deforested land. This kind of policy could pressure supply chains to source wood from plantations or existing managed forests instead of clearing new areas. If successful, it would mean that even if billions of trees are harvested for paper, they would more often come from planted forests that are continuously replanted, rather than from old-growth or high-conservation-value forests.

Nonetheless, challenges remain. The growing demand from developing markets (South Asia, Africa, Latin America) for paper products as incomes rise could increase virgin wood use. Also, tissue and hygiene products (which have fewer viable recycling or reduction alternatives) are a growing segment and rely on high-quality virgin fiber, often from old trees for softness (e.g., Canada’s boreal forest has been logged for tissue pulp). The World Wildlife Fund and other NGOs have highlighted that consumer preferences (like ultra-soft tissue) can drive logging in sensitive forests. Fostering consumer awareness and shifts to recycled or alternative fibers in such products could reduce those impacts.

In conclusion, tree loss from global paper production remains a significant environmental concern in 2021–2024, with roughly 4 billion trees cut each year to satisfy our appetite for paper. This loss is distributed across countries – with major contributions from both industrial packaging use and consumer paper use – and it represents a substantial portion of human pressure on forests (about one-third of harvested trees globally). Trends in paper consumption show no imminent steep decline; instead, moderate growth is expected, especially driven by packaging. However, increased recycling, sustainable forestry practices, and international commitments to end deforestation offer pathways to decouple paper production from native forest loss. The data as of 2025 reflect a call to action: sustaining our paper needs will require concerted efforts to use fiber more efficiently and ensure that the world’s paper comes from responsibly managed forests, so that we can meet demand without irrevocably depleting our planet’s trees.