Wood pulp for paper and paperboard — Capacity by country
The database contains data on pulp and paper production, pulp and paper production capacity, information about utilization of recovered paper, and short-term capacity forecasts for major pulp and paper producing countries. The main types of pulp included in this database are wood pulp (mechanical,...
What the numbers show
Wood pulp for paper and paperboard — Capacity is currently reported for 29 countries. The highest value is 44.34 million t in United States; the lowest is 240,000 t in Viet Nam.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.64 million t, and the mean is 5.89 million t.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 185.
Over the past decade 14 countries rose and 8 fell. The largest increase was in Uruguay (up 71.4%), and the largest decrease in New Zealand (down 25.6%).
Wood pulp for paper and paperboard — Capacity: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 44.34 million t | 2026 | down 12.5% | falling |
| 2 | Brazil | 30.77 million t | 2026 | up 29.0% | rising |
| 3 | Japan | 15.92 million t | 2026 | unchanged | flat |
| 4 | Finland | 13.23 million t | 2026 | up 3.4% | flat |
| 5 | Sweden | 12.50 million t | 2026 | down 8.0% | falling |
| 6 | Russia | 10.87 million t | 2026 | up 5.7% | flat |
| 6 | Russian Federation | 10.87 million t | 2026 | up 5.7% | flat |
| 8 | Chile | 6.57 million t | 2026 | up 19.7% | rising |
| 9 | Uruguay | 4.80 million t | 2026 | up 71.4% | rising |
| 10 | Portugal | 2.80 million t | 2026 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 11 | Australia | 2.55 million t | 2026 | down 14.5% | falling |
| 12 | Spain | 2.21 million t | 2026 | up 15.7% | rising |
| 13 | Germany | 2.19 million t | 2026 | down 19.1% | falling |
| 14 | France | 2.00 million t | 2026 | down 10.0% | falling |
| 15 | Austria | 1.64 million t | 2026 | down 10.2% | falling |
| 16 | New Zealand | 1.31 million t | 2026 | down 25.6% | falling |
| 17 | Thailand | 1.17 million t | 2026 | up 22.5% | rising |
| 18 | Slovakia | 652,000 t | 2026 | up 0.3% | flat |
| 19 | Czechia | 620,000 t | 2026 | up 1.6% | flat |
| 20 | Belarus | 590,000 t | 2026 | up 34.1% | rising |
| 21 | Republic of Korea | 515,000 t | 2026 | unchanged | flat |
| 22 | Mexico | 471,000 t | 2026 | unchanged | flat |
| 23 | Belgium | 450,000 t | 2026 | up 27.8% | rising |
| 24 | Colombia | 388,881 t | 2026 | up 25.0% | rising |
| 25 | United Kingdom | 300,000 t | 2026 | unchanged | flat |
| 25 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 300,000 t | 2026 | unchanged | flat |
| 27 | Estonia | 265,000 t | 2026 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 28 | Vietnam | 240,000 t | 2026 | — | flat |
| 28 | Viet Nam | 240,000 t | 2026 | — | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- United States of America 44.34 million t
About this data
The database contains data on pulp and paper production, pulp and paper production capacity, information about utilization of recovered paper, and short-term capacity forecasts for major pulp and paper producing countries. The main types of pulp included in this database are wood pulp (mechanical, thermo-mechanical, semi-chemical pulp, and chemical pulp), pulp of other fibre, and dissolving wood pulp. The main types of paper included in this database are graphic papers (newsprint, printing and writing paper) and other paper and paperboard. The latter is further subdivided into detailed categories of packaging paper and paperboard, household and sanitary paper, and other paper and paperboard not elsewhere specified. The database also provides information about consumption of recovered paper for paper and paperboard making domestically. Refer to this document for detailed definitions: https://www.fao.org/3/cc7461t/cc7461t.pdf#page=11