History of paper and its global usage ..

*2100 years of the history of paper*

Paper was invented in China around first century BC. It took 800 years before Arab traders took the know -how to Arabia in the 7th century AD From Arabia it spread to India and Europe around the 13th centuryand later to Africa and Australia. 

Presently of the 423 million tonnes of paper consumed annually in 2019 around the world,  almost 265 million tons (63%) is consumed by the top 10 paper consuming countries of the world and the rest 37% is consumed by the other 190 countries of the world. At 103 million and 71 million tonnes consumption annually China and US top the world.  

In per capita annual usage, while the global average paper consumption is 55 kgs, in  US, average annual per capita paper consumption is at 215 kgs, (4x global average). China remains  at 74 kgs (1.5x) and India at 13 kgs (0.24x) annual usage respectively. 

Worldwide consumption of paper has risen by 400% in the last 40 years with 35% of harvested trees being used for paper manufacture (The Paperless Project, 2014). In the last 20 years, the usage of paper products has increased from 92 million tons to 208 million, which is a growth of 126% (The Paperless Project, 2014).

The usage of paper has declined in the printing industry (efficiently supported by the digital storage world) while it's usage has increased in packaging and personal hygiene sectors around the world. 

George..