Photocopying statistics describe several different things: paper procured, copier presence, modeled energy use, pages printed, and changes in access. The figures below keep those measures separate across Hong Kong government procurement, U.S. commercial buildings, medical education, and a university library.
Key Photocopying Statistics
The most broadly useful figures span scale, adoption, costs, and outcomes:
- Hong Kong government departments procured 4,244 metric tonnes of photocopying paper in 2005 through the reported central procurement channel.
- Hong Kong government photocopying-paper expenditure was HK$33.1 million in 2005.
- Hong Kong government procured 4,177 metric tonnes of photocopying paper in 2006.
- Hong Kong government procured 4,320 metric tonnes of photocopying paper in 2007.
- Photocopiers were present in 86.2% of U.S. commercial buildings in 2012 according to the CBECS equipment table.
- Laser printers were present in 88.4% of U.S. commercial buildings in 2012, compared with 86.2% for photocopiers.
- Photocopier-associated site energy consumption was estimated at 2,362 trillion Btu in U.S. commercial buildings in 2012.
- Photocopier-associated electricity consumption was estimated at 31.5 billion kWh in 2012 in the CBECS table.
- Photocopier-associated total energy expenditure was estimated at $88.6 billion in 2012 for the reported U.S. commercial-building category.
- The CBECS table reported 2,088 buildings and 22,559 thousand square feet for one detailed 2012 commercial-building category.
- Photocopier presence reached 92.5% in one CBECS commercial-building category in 2012.
- Photocopier presence was 72.9% in another CBECS commercial-building category in 2012.
- Buildings with 100–249 desktop computers had a reported CBECS value of 98.8 in 2012.
- Buildings with 250 or more desktop computers had a reported CBECS value of 109.9 in 2012.
- The one-photocopier category included 208 U.S. commercial buildings and 2,604 thousand square feet in 2012.
- A medical-school web-distribution intervention reduced course-material preparation costs by 55% during the study period.
- The medical-school study reported more than $2,200 in course-material savings during its test period.
- Paper-and-toner cost was 1.5 U.S. cents per page in the medical-school study.
- Eighty percent of follow-up respondents said they did not print course materials from home.
- A UCSF library scenario projected a 90% increase in photocopying if circulation were limited to journals more than five years old.
Contents
- Government paper procurement
- Commercial building presence and energy
- Equipment patterns by building and computer inventory
- Education costs and paper use
- Library circulation and photocopying
- Trends and measurement limits
Government Paper Procurement Statistics
Hong Kong government records provide a three-year view of photocopying-paper procurement through the Government Logistics Department. These are central procurement quantities and expenditures, not a direct count of pages or copies.
| Year | Photocopying paper | Photocopying-paper expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 4,244 metric tonnes | HK$33.1 million |
| 2006 | 4,177 metric tonnes | HK$32.7 million |
| 2007 | 4,320 metric tonnes | HK$34.1 million |
Source: LCQ16: Government Paper consumption. The source reports central procurement records and says the figures do not represent paper bought outside the reported term-contract channel.
The same source distinguishes photocopying paper from printing paper. In 2005, the corresponding printing-paper quantity was 7,825 metric tonnes; in 2006 it was 6,244 metric tonnes; and in 2007 it was 5,789 metric tonnes.
That distinction matters because a paper-procurement series cannot be converted into photocopy volume without assumptions about sheet size, duplex use, waste, storage, and whether every procured sheet was used during the same year. The Hong Kong source also notes that annual paper-consumption statistics for individual bureaux or departments were unavailable.
Commercial Building Photocopier Presence and Energy Statistics
The 2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) measures equipment presence and modeled energy outcomes in U.S. commercial buildings. Its photocopier row reported presence in 86.2% of buildings, close to the 88.4% presence reported for laser printers and above the 80.1% reported for inkjet printers and 85.6% for fax machines.
| CBECS 2012 photocopier measure | Reported value | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Building presence | 86.2% | Survey estimate of buildings with photocopiers |
| Associated site energy | 2,362 trillion Btu | Modeled category estimate |
| Associated electricity | 31.5 billion kWh | Modeled category estimate |
| Total energy expenditure | $88.6 billion | Modeled energy-expenditure category |
| Electricity expenditure | $1.8 billion | Modeled electricity expenditure |
Source: 2012 CBECS Table C4: End-use consumption and expenditures by office equipment. These values are not electricity per copy, toner spending, paper spending, or a copier lease price.
CBECS Table C4 also reported photocopier-associated energy intensity of 74.6 thousand Btu per square foot and electricity intensity of 54.8 thousand kWh per square foot. Its expenditure intensities were $50.4 per square foot for total energy and $21.3 per square foot for electricity.
Those intensities retain the table’s definitions and population. They should not be interpreted as per-machine rates or retail copy prices, and the modeled category should not be treated as metered copier-only electricity.
Photocopying Equipment Patterns by Building and Computer Inventory
CBECS tables also show how reported values vary across building categories. The figures below are table-specific survey measures; they are not daily copy counts.
| Desktop-computer category | Reported CBECS value, 2012 |
|---|---|
| No desktop computers | 48.3 |
| 1–4 desktop computers | 75.6 |
| 5–9 desktop computers | 78.3 |
| 10–19 desktop computers | 72.0 |
| 20–49 desktop computers | 85.6 |
| 50–99 desktop computers | 77.9 |
| 100–249 desktop computers | 98.8 |
| 250 or more desktop computers | 109.9 |
Source: 2012 CBECS Table E2: Energy end uses and equipment in commercial buildings. The table’s column definitions must accompany these values.
For laptop-computer categories, the reported values were 70.0 for buildings with no laptops, 71.7 for buildings with 1–4 laptops, 83.6 for 5–9, and 86.1 for 10–19 laptops. These are likewise table-specific measures, not photocopy output.
CBECS Table C10 gives additional category context: one detailed category included 2,088 buildings and 22,559 thousand square feet, with photocopier presence of 92.5%. Other categories reported photocopier presence of 86.7%, 72.9%, 80.5%, and 84.2%.
Source: 2012 CBECS Table C10: Building characteristics and office equipment. These are category-specific estimates, not a national installed-base count.
Table C5 reported 208 buildings and 2,604 thousand square feet in the one-photocopier category, with a reported value of 79.9%. The 50–99-photocopier category included 48 buildings and 382 thousand square feet, with a table-reported value of 126.2.
Source: 2012 CBECS Table C5: Commercial building energy consumption by number of photocopiers. The 50–99 category is a small category estimate and does not establish typical office practice.
Education Photocopying Costs and Paper-Use Outcomes
A peer-reviewed study of medical-school course materials examined a move to web distribution and its effect on preparation costs and printing behavior. It found a 55% reduction in preparation costs and reported more than $2,200 in course-material savings during the test period.
Source: Distribution of medical school course materials through the Web: addressing the issue of printing through an analysis of the costs and utilization. The results come from one educational intervention and are not a universal higher-education estimate.
The study’s server-statistics page count represented approximately 50% of total pages printed during its two-month period. Reported paper-and-toner cost was 1.5 cents per page, while a cited comparison elsewhere used 5 cents per page.
The 1.5-cent figure excluded broader labor, equipment, and distribution costs, and the 5-cent comparison was not a universal contemporaneous benchmark. Both should therefore be read as study-specific cost observations.
In the follow-up survey, 80% of respondents said they did not print course materials from home. Another 16% said they printed fewer than 5 pages per day at home, making the survey a useful example of measured behavior after digital distribution rather than proof of a general printing trend.
Library Circulation and Photocopying Statistics
A typical-week survey at the University of California, San Francisco examined the relationship between journal circulation and photocopying practice. Journal circulation represented 71% of total journal use measured in that survey, while journals issued during the previous five years represented 45% of the circulation total.
Source: Circulation versus photocopy: Quid pro Quo?. This was a single-library survey and a single-week observation.
The study also modeled a policy scenario in which circulation was limited to journals more than five years old. Its survey-based projection was a 90% increase in photocopying alongside a 45% decrease in circulation.
Those are estimated scenario outcomes, not directly observed long-run changes. They show why access rules can shift activity between circulation and copying, but the results should not be generalized to every library or journal collection.
Photocopying Trends and Measurement Limits
The Hong Kong series contains three annual observations from 2005 through 2007, with photocopying-paper procurement moving from 4,244 to 4,177 and then 4,320 metric tonnes. The short series can describe those recorded procurement levels, but it cannot establish a long-term trend or explain why quantities changed.
Across the sources, the most important definitional boundary is between paper, equipment, energy, pages, and copies. Procurement quantities measure supply entering a purchasing channel; CBECS measures building presence and modeled energy categories; the education study measures printing and cost outcomes; and the library study measures circulation and a projected copying response.
The official CBECS figures are survey estimates, and several tables use category-specific presence or energy measures. The medical-school and UCSF results are single-institution studies or surveys, while the Hong Kong figures are central procurement records rather than department-level consumption.
Taken together, these photocopying statistics support comparisons of documented scale and outcomes only when the unit, population, period, and measurement method remain explicit.