Europe’s paper consumption increased by 0.5% between 2014 and 2015, suggesting that economic recovery in Europe is helping to drive paper industry growth.
Paper production overall fell by 0.2% from 2014 to 2015 with a total volume of 90.9 million tonnes of paper. Consumption was at 77.4 million tonnes, suggesting around 13.5 million tonnes of exports.
European GDP growth of 2% suggests that paper sales in 2016 should be equivalent or better to 2015, though uncertainty caused by the UK’s EU exit may cause some instability.
European paper industry: Structural positive change continues