Overall, the cost of paper imports increased by an average 10.2% for all importing countries since 2019 when international purchases of paper were valued at $170.8 billion.
Year over year, globally imported purchases of paper diminished by -12.2% compared to $214.3 billion starting from 2022.
The biggest buyers of imported paper on international markets are the United States of America, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy. Collectively, those countries accounted for almost a third (31.5%) of imported paper purchased in 2023.
Paper is produced by pressing together moist cellulose pulp fibers derived from wood, grasses or rags, which is then dried into flexible sheets. There are many different types of paper and a myriad of uses encompassing currency, wrapping materials, containers, books, newspapers, magazines, note papers, toilet paper, paper towels, clothing plus many more varieties.
From a continental perspective, buyers in European countries spent the most on imported paper during 2023 with purchases costing $91.2 billion or 48.5% of the global total. In second place were importers located in Asia at 22.8% while another 17.4% of paper imported worldwide was delivered to customers in North America.
Smaller percentages arrived in Latin America (5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (4.6%) then Oceania (1.6%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 48 for paper.
Paper Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of paper during 2023.
- United States: US$19.2 billion (10.2% of total imported paper)
- Germany: $14.8 billion (7.9%)
- France: $10 billion (5.3%)
- United Kingdom: $8.1 billion (4.3%)
- Italy: $7.1 billion (3.8%)
- mainland China: $6.93 billion (3.7%)
- Mexico: $6.8 billion (3.6%)
- Canada: $6.7 billion (3.6%)
- Netherlands: $6.2 billion (3.3%)
- Poland: $6.1 billion (3.2%)
- Belgium: $5.1 billion (2.7%)
- Spain: $4.6 billion (2.4%)
- India: $3.11 billion (1.7%)
- Vietnam: $3.1 billion (1.6%)
- Türkiye: $3.07 billion (1.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 58.9% of globally imported paper in 2023.
Among the above countries, the growth markets for paper since 2022 were Vietnam (up 2.3%) and India (up 0.6%).
Those buyer countries that posted declines in their imported paper purchases were led by: Türkiye (down -24.3% from 2022), Belgium (down -15.5%), United States of America (down -14.3%) and Poland (down -13.7%).
Searchable List of Paper Importers in 2023
The 100 importing nations buying paper in 2023 accounted for 97.4% of all purchases of the commodity.
| Rank | Importer | Paper Imports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $19,189,440,000 | -14.3% |
| 2. | Germany | $14,790,811,000 | -9% |
| 3. | France | $9,981,081,000 | -10.5% |
| 4. | United Kingdom | $8,112,775,000 | -13.7% |
| 5. | Italy | $7,121,119,000 | -12% |
| 6. | mainland China | $6,926,937,000 | -0.7% |
| 7. | Mexico | $6,823,237,000 | -9.8% |
| 8. | Canada | $6,719,637,000 | -6% |
| 9. | Netherlands | $6,243,427,000 | -9.5% |
| 10. | Poland | $6,107,353,000 | -13.7% |
| 11. | Belgium | $5,062,974,000 | -15.5% |
| 12. | Spain | $4,556,774,000 | -13.2% |
| 13. | India | $3,113,883,000 | +0.6% |
| 14. | Vietnam | $3,103,504,000 | +2.3% |
| 15. | Türkiye | $3,070,347,000 | -24.3% |
| 16. | Japan | $2,873,973,000 | -1.6% |
| 17. | Czech Republic | $2,652,795,000 | -10.8% |
| 18. | Austria | $2,533,852,000 | -8.1% |
| 19. | Switzerland | $2,473,610,000 | -6.1% |
| 20. | Australia | $2,234,202,000 | -3.3% |
| 21. | South Korea | $2,193,098,000 | -2.9% |
| 22. | United Arab Emirates | $1,972,796,000 | -6% |
| 23. | Thailand | $1,890,636,000 | -7.2% |
| 24. | Hungary | $1,855,411,000 | -7.8% |
| 25. | Malaysia | $1,721,503,000 | -14.8% |
| 26. | Sweden | $1,676,755,000 | -16.2% |
| 27. | Taiwan | $1,662,620,000 | -8.7% |
| 28. | Indonesia | $1,637,665,000 | -8.8% |
| 29. | Russia | $1,576,671,000 | -22.6% |
| 30. | Denmark | $1,543,719,000 | -8.5% |
| 31. | Saudi Arabia | $1,529,037,000 | -31.4% |
| 32. | Romania | $1,513,177,000 | -10% |
| 33. | Philippines | $1,479,231,000 | -3.7% |
| 34. | Portugal | $1,458,260,000 | -12.9% |
| 35. | Greece | $1,425,476,000 | -11% |
| 36. | Ireland | $1,371,161,000 | -4% |
| 37. | Egypt | $1,315,612,000 | -20.2% |
| 38. | Hong Kong | $1,230,466,000 | -11.3% |
| 39. | Singapore | $1,122,107,000 | -12.6% |
| 40. | South Africa | $1,084,584,000 | -13.4% |
| 41. | Norway | $975,495,000 | -6.2% |
| 42. | Slovakia | $971,698,000 | -8.8% |
| 43. | Brazil | $889,346,000 | -1.2% |
| 44. | Argentina | $887,475,000 | -0.6% |
| 45. | Chile | $881,901,000 | -41.1% |
| 46. | Morocco | $869,286,000 | -22.5% |
| 47. | Nigeria | $856,571,000 | -2% |
| 48. | Guatemala | $815,900,000 | -30.9% |
| 49. | Costa Rica | $772,755,000 | -14.8% |
| 50. | Israel | $765,988,000 | -29% |
| 51. | Colombia | $724,846,000 | -36.6% |
| 52. | Bulgaria | $722,814,000 | -15.2% |
| 53. | Ukraine | $713,309,000 | +11.5% |
| 54. | Dominican Republic | $713,201,000 | -16.1% |
| 55. | Algeria | $709,571,000 | -23.6% |
| 56. | Bangladesh | $700,115,000 | -25.6% |
| 57. | Croatia | $690,648,000 | -9.5% |
| 58. | Serbia | $688,232,000 | -17.7% |
| 59. | New Zealand | $677,752,000 | -13.5% |
| 60. | Peru | $665,354,000 | -38.2% |
| 61. | Finland | $638,605,000 | -13.1% |
| 62. | Lithuania | $625,878,000 | -13.8% |
| 63. | Slovenia | $611,726,000 | -7.8% |
| 64. | Kazakhstan | $582,310,000 | -3.1% |
| 65. | Cambodia | $555,434,000 | -10% |
| 66. | Iraq | $554,207,000 | -27.1% |
| 67. | Luxembourg | $486,441,000 | -21.1% |
| 68. | Pakistan | $431,427,000 | -24.8% |
| 69. | Sri Lanka | $410,221,000 | -8.9% |
| 70. | Ecuador | $400,798,000 | -20.5% |
| 71. | Honduras | $390,295,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Kenya | $386,914,000 | -20.9% |
| 73. | Latvia | $380,965,000 | -12.2% |
| 74. | Jordan | $374,227,000 | -18% |
| 75. | El Salvador | $364,906,000 | -20.1% |
| 76. | Tunisia | $332,266,000 | -22.8% |
| 77. | Estonia | $317,745,000 | -5.7% |
| 78. | Panama | $302,001,000 | -8.2% |
| 79. | Myanmar | $275,978,000 | +1.4% |
| 80. | Iran | $273,718,000 | -74% |
| 81. | Azerbaijan | $267,425,000 | +5.6% |
| 82. | Nicaragua | $255,453,000 | +0.9% |
| 83. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $250,868,000 | -8% |
| 84. | Libya | $235,361,000 | +6.9% |
| 85. | Ivory Coast | $233,575,000 | -14.5% |
| 86. | Paraguay | $224,720,000 | -12.7% |
| 87. | Uzbekistan | $214,213,000 | -45.1% |
| 88. | Ethiopia | $210,758,000 | +33.6% |
| 89. | Belarus | $207,125,000 | -8% |
| 90. | Tanzania | $189,443,000 | +0.3% |
| 91. | Lebanon | $180,990,000 | -17.9% |
| 92. | Uruguay | $180,225,000 | -4.9% |
| 93. | Kuwait | $179,666,000 | -62.3% |
| 94. | Uganda | $174,646,000 | -11% |
| 95. | Georgia | $172,705,000 | +1% |
| 96. | Ghana | $166,144,000 | -29.9% |
| 97. | Bolivia | $159,187,000 | +0.9% |
| 98. | Malta | $155,598,000 | +16.7% |
| 99. | Qatar | $152,891,000 | -34% |
| 100. | Cyprus | $146,818,000 | -6% |
Focusing on these 100 major buyer countries, the fastest gainers were Ethiopia (up 33.6% from 2022), Malta (up 16.7%), Ukraine (up 11.5%), Libya (up 6.9%), Azerbaijan (up 5.6%) then Vietnam (up 2.3%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
Paper Imported into the United States
America’s global purchases of imported paper totaled US$19.2 billion in 2023. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which the US imported the highest dollar value worth of paper during 2023. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2022 to 2023.
- Canada: US$6.8 billion (down -5.9% from 2022)
- mainland China: $3 billion (down -20%)
- Mexico: $1.5 billion (down -2.8%)
- Finland: $1 billion (down -16.7%)
- Germany: $985.6 million (down -28.6%)
- Vietnam: $699.8 million (up 3.7%)
- South Korea: $596 million (down -21.2%)
- Sweden: $494.7 million (down -19.3%)
- Indonesia: $444.2 million (down -5.5%)
- India: $377 million (down -20.8%)
- Brazil: $302.6 million (down -11.1%)
- Italy: $295.8 million (down -38.6%)
- United Kingdom: $289.3 million (down -22.3%)
- France: $288.7 million (down -15.1%)
- Taiwan: $256.4 million (down -21%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 90.4% of paper imported by the United States of America in 2023.
Among the above countries, the lone growing supplier of paper to the United States since 2022 was Vietnam via a 3.7% increase.
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their paper supplied to American importers included: Italy (down -38.6% from 2022), Germany (down -28.6%), United Kingdom (down -22.3%) and South Korea (down -21.2%).
Overall, the value of United States’s imported paper fell by an average -14.3% from all supplying countries since 2022 when paper purchased cost $22.4 billion.
Paper Imported into Germany
Germany’s global purchases of imported paper totaled US$14.8 billion in 2023. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Germany imported the highest dollar value worth of paper during 2023. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2022 to 2023.
- Poland: US$1.9 billion (down -0.7% from 2022)
- Sweden: $1.86 billion (up 0.6%)
- Austria: $1.6 billion (down -10.7%)
- Finland: $1.4 billion (down -1.3%)
- Italy: $1.28 billion (down -8%)
- France: $1.28 billion (down -14.8%)
- Netherlands: $1.1 billion (down -12.6%)
- Switzerland: $579.5 million (down -23.2%)
- mainland China: $555.5 million (down -25.5%)
- Czech Republic: $465.6 million (down -8.5%)
- Belgium: $434.6 million (down -10.8%)
- United Kingdom: $292.4 million (down -4.5%)
- Spain: $246.2 million (down -12.5%)
- United States of America: $235.5 million (up 1.8%)
- Portugal: $207.8 million (down -15.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 91.1% of paper imported by Germany in 2023.
Among the above countries, growing suppliers of paper to Germany since 2022 were the United States of America (up 1.8%) and Sweden (up 0.6%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their paper supplied to German importers included: mainland China (down -25.5% from 2022), Switzerland (down -23.2%), Portugal (down -15.6%) and France (down -14.8%).
Overall, the value of Germany’s imported paper declined by an average -9% from all supplying countries since 2022 when paper purchased cost $16.3 billion.
Paper Imported into France
France’s global purchases of imported paper totaled US$9.98 billion in 2023. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which France imported the highest dollar value worth of paper during 2023. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2022 to 2023.
- Germany: US$2.4 billion (down -9.6% from 2022)
- Italy: $1.4 billion (down -7%)
- Spain: $1.1 billion (down -16.5%)
- Belgium: $665.2 million (down -17.3%)
- mainland China: $495.2 million (down -13.6%)
- Netherlands: $491.4 million (down -19.1%)
- Sweden: $457 million (down -10.8%)
- United Kingdom: $408.1 million (down -3.8%)
- Finland: $355.7 million (down -16.7%)
- Poland: $355.4 million (down -0.5%)
- Portugal: $317 million (down -7.8%)
- Austria: $305.7 million (down -12.3%)
- United States: $115.6 million (up 5.6%)
- Luxembourg: $95.3 million (down -15.9%)
- Türkiye: $91.7 million (down -27%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 90.7% of paper imported by France in 2023.
Among the above countries, the United States of America was the lone supplier of paper to France since 2022 via a 5.6% upturn.
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their paper supplied to French importers included: Türkiye (down -27% from 2022), Netherlands (down -19.1%), Belgium (down -17.3%) and Finland (down -16.7%).
Overall, the value of France’s imported paper retreated by an average -10.5% from all supplying countries since 2022 when paper purchased cost $11.1 billion.
Paper Imported into the UK
The United Kingdom’s global purchases of imported paper totaled US$8.1 billion in 2023. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Britain imported the highest dollar value worth of paper during 2023. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2022 to 2023.
- Germany: US$1.2 billion (down -19.3% from 2022)
- mainland China: $893.3 million (down -16.1%)
- Sweden: $790.5 million (down -4%)
- Finland: $607.1 million (down -11.5%)
- Italy: $496.7 million (down -18.1%)
- France: $471.3 million (down -10.5%)
- Netherlands: $435.9 million (down -21.7%)
- Poland: $313.3 million (down -9.6%)
- Türkiye: $311.3 million (down -22.4%)
- United States of America: $291.9 million (down -3.2%)
- Spain: $251 million (down -16.4%)
- Belgium: $239.5 million (down -6.1%)
- Portugal: $226.3 million (down -6.2%)
- Austria: $214.5 million (down -14.7%)
- Ireland: $184.5 million (up 6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.9% of paper imported by the United Kingdom in 2023.
Among the above countries, Ireland was the lone growth supplier of paper to the United Kingdom since 2022 recording a 6% advance.
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their paper supplied to UK importers included: Türkiye (down -22.4% from 2022), Netherlands (down -21.7%), Germany (down -19.3%) and Italy (down -18.1%).
Overall, the value of United Kingdom’s imported paper went down by an average -13.7% from all supplying countries since 2022 when paper purchased cost $9.4 billion.
See also Paper Exports by Country, Top Newsprint Exports by Country, Top Toilet Paper Exporters by Country and Sawn Wood Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on October 23, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 23, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 23, 2024
Wikipedia, Paper. Accessed on October 23, 2024