How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Year for Paper (See Graphic)

If you’re wondering how many trees are cut down each year for paper and how many trees are cut down each year to make paper, this article is for you.²

Did you know that paper usage is directly related to a nation’s wealth? America and many European countries rank at the top, and on average, every American consumes about 3.6 trees per year in paper and cardboard.²

Furthermore, the deforestation of existing forests contributes to Human’s ecological and carbon footprint. Think about that. Over 3 and a half trees are used by every American, every year for paper and cardboard.

Naturally, some of that paper is due to food packaging and other necessities, but as the use of Amazon shipping increases, those numbers increase.

Check out this visual representation of how many trees are cut down each year for paper.

Studies estimate about 1.4 billion trees end up in landfills every year, due to product packaging and other paper waste.²

But the bottom line is that answering the question, how many trees are cut down each year for paper is hard to calculate. Estimates suggest anywhere from 4 billion trees to 8 billion trees used for paper every year. 

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Year to Make Paper? (How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Year for Paper?)

Over 400 metric tons of paper are produced each year (paper and paper products).

To make that paper, according to the EPA, the resources that are used include:

• About 1/3 of materials come from recycled paper
• Another third comes from sawmills (the chips and scraps left over from softwoods)
• And the last amount comes from trees that are cut down for paper

Many of the trees cut down for paper are grown specifically for that use, and these tree farms replace and regrow the renewable resource.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Day?

Studies estimate about 42 million trees are cut down each day for both paper and other products.

How Many Trees Are Planted Each Year?

In the United States, about 1.9 billion trees are planted each year.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down for Paper Each Day?

More than 200 million trees are cut down daily to make paper. This means that a tree is cut down every 2.5 seconds.

The amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) released into the atmosphere when trees are cut down for paper production is estimated to be about 28 million metric tons per year. This makes up 20% of all global CO₂ emissions.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Year in the World?

Trees are cut down for a variety of reasons. They can be cut down to make room for new development; they can be cut down because they are diseased or dying, or they may be cut down by mistake. The most recent estimate suggests that approximately 15 billion trees are cut down yearly.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Year for Paper? Its Factors

The exact number of how many trees are cut down each year to make paper depends on several factors. Foremost among these is the size of the forest being logged: larger forests have more trees per acre than smaller forests do.

Logging companies also consider how many years it will take to regenerate after an area has been logged. They also check whether there are native species present to replace those trees that have been removed from the area.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down a Second?

Every second, almost one football field’s worth of forest is lost.⁶ The logging industry is the main culprit, with the demand for wood products driving the destruction of forests. However, other factors such as urbanization and agriculture also contribute to the problem.

In many cases, trees are simply bulldozed or burned to make way for new development. As a result, countless acres of forest are lost each year, along with the animals that call those forests home.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Minute?

Twenty-four trees are cut down each minute, which means that humans could potentially clear a forest in just two hours.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Day in the World?

Around 42 million trees are cut down worldwide daily. This process is called deforestation. Deforestation is when trees are cut down to make room for crops, buildings, or other things that humans need.⁵

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Month?

If you’re wondering how many trees are cut down each month, it’s about 500 million. That’s a lot of trees.

In fact, the United States alone is responsible for one-third of the world’s deforestation. And that’s not all: Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia are among the top five countries whose forests are cut down each year.

The issue of deforestation is a serious one because it affects everyone—not just people in the United States but every nation on Earth.¹ People are losing what little soil they have left to make room for more farmland and homes, which means people are also losing their natural resources, including clean water and air, to make room for human activities like farming and building houses.

How Many Pieces of Paper in a Tree?

Given that the average U.S. home throws away roughly 13,000 pieces of paper a year (think junk mail and other stuff), knowing how many pieces of paper in a tree can help you visualize the waste.

Although the average tree produces anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 pieces of paper, the type of paper makes a difference. So, the 3.6 trees each American used each year for paper includes those additional types.

It is estimated that it takes approximately 17 trees to produce one ton of paper.

Stunning Paper Facts

Did you know that in the U.S. alone, there are approximately 4 trillion pieces of paper documents right now?

Using paper towels accounts for about 3000 metric tons of waste every day! (You can reduce that amount by using organic bamboo washcloths to dry your hands).

The pulp and paper industry accounts for about 5 percent of the world’s emissions and uses about 4 percent of the world’s energy.

Wrapping and product packaging make up about 55 percent of the paper made. Printing and writing is about 26 percent, and the remaining amounts are for toilet paper and other uses.

Carbon Emissions for Paper Products

Paper production generates about 1.15 kg of carbon emissions for every kg of paper. But, that’s not the whole story.

Check out these common emissions amounts for things that are consumed every day:⁵

Paper Product	Carbon Emissions	Paper Facts
Paper Grocery Bag	0.026 Pounds of CO2
Department Store Paper Bag	0.17 Pounds of CO2
Recycled Paperback Book	0.88 pounds of CO2
Non-Recycled Book	4.4 pounds of CO2	If 50% of copies are pulped
NTY Sunday Edition	3.3 Pounds of CO2	If the edition is recycled
Toilet Paper Roll	1.6 Pounds of CO2

Some Additional Paper Production Facts

1 ton of non-coated, not recycled office/print paper requires approximately 24 trees for production.

1 ton of the same kind of newspaper needs about 12 trees to create it.

1 ream of paper (500 sheets, not recycled and newly made) uses approximately 6 percent of a tree.

But, a ton of coated, paper, like the pages that are used for magazines, needs over 15 trees to produce!

(Source: Cushman-Roisin & Tanaka Cremonini, Useful Numbers, Elsevier 2021)

How Many Trees Are Planted Each Year Worldwide?

The world’s forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. The goal of planting trees is to help slow down this trend by providing wood for homes and buildings, as well as for use in furniture and other products. Trees also play a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate – they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, protecting you from global warming.³

According to statistics, there are currently about 3 trillion trees around the globe, but only about 1.15 billion of them are planted each year. That means you have a long way to go before you have enough forests on Earth to keep up with human demand for wood products like furniture or paper pulp.

How Many Trees Are Cut Down Each Year?

As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. That’s a lot of trees! And it’s not just in forests either—it’s also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property.