The Effects of Internet Use on Global Demand for Paper Products

In recent decades, the Internet, together with information and communication technologies such as personal computers and cellular phones, has provided an electronic alternative to newspapers and printed materials. We examine how Internet adoption has affected worldwide demand for newsprint and printing and writing papers. We find that the Internet has reduced demand for newsprint in all regions. These regions include the United States, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) countries other than the United States, the countries of the former Soviet Union ( Reform), the Asian countries not in the OECD ( Asia), and developing countries in Africa and Latin America. The effect is strongest in the United States, where we predict that as of 2011 newsprint consumption would have been 4 times higher in the absence of the Internet. The effects on printing and writing papers are more varied. The Internet is found to have reduced consumption in the United States and OECD countries, had a negligible effect in Asia and the Reform region, and increased consumption in Africa and Latin America. By accounting for Internet adoption, our new demand estimates have the potential to improve forecasts of paper consumption contained in forest outlook studies.