As one of the most-used formats for businesses and personal users alike, it’s important to know who is using PDFs in which industries.
You can also check out our other blog about the latest business statistics to help you navigate the 2025 corporate space.
Using PDFs: Key Facts and Figures
- An estimated 2.7 trillion PDFs are in circulation worldwide, marking a 7% increase from 2023.
— Adobe Systems estimate - Approximately 76% of office workers utilize PDFs weekly, primarily for contracts, reports, and forms..
— Google Cloud - PDFs constitute over 80% of scanned documents, underscoring their dominance in digital document exchange.
— Canon Business Process Services - More than 320 billion PDFs were opened using Adobe products, reflecting sustained engagement.
— Adobe Investor Report - Over 70% of academic journal articles are disseminated as PDFs, valued for their formatting stability and citation accuracy.
— Google Cloud - 53% of businesses regard PDFs as their most secure format for external document sharing
— File Center - Approximately 85% of e-signature processes are executed on PDF documents.
— Google Cloud - PDF/A remains the predominant format for long-term digital preservation in governmental and legal institutions globally.
— AIIM (Association for Intelligent Information Management) - 48% of users report difficulties in editing or annotating PDFs without specialized tools.
— File Center
"There's an often-overlooked aspect of accessibility that deserves attention: the accessibility of downloadable documents like PDFs. Whether it's a restaurant menu, medical form, user manual or many other examples, inaccessible documents can alienate customers."
Nayan Padrai
Founder of EcomBack
Source: Forbes
The Use of PDFs in the Digital Age
- 80% of participants express the necessity to access corporate documents, including PDFs, via mobile devices.
— Whale - The global Document Management System (DMS) market is projected to reach $10.17 billion by 2025, driven by digitalization needs.
— Keevee - 65% of companies prefer cloud-based DMS solutions over on-premises setups, citing scalability and maintenance benefits.
— OPEX - 57% of organizations utilize digital documentation tools within their marketing departments.
— File Center - Organizations with mobile document access report a 24% increase in productivity, emphasizing the importance of remote accessibility.
— OPEX - 83% of workers experience daily time losses due to document versioning problems
— File Center - AI-powered document management systems are automating PDF tasks like sorting, tagging, and filing, enhancing efficiency.
— DocsVault - 79% of companies acknowledge the growing importance of intelligent information management solutions by 2025.
— File Center - 26% of businesses have increased investments in automation solutions to alleviate document management burdens.
— File Center - In 2025, document management systems equipped with advanced analytics tools are transforming how businesses extract and utilize document-related information.
— Invenis
PDF Security Measures Implementation in Business
- With 70% of the workforce expected to work remotely at least five days a month, mobile-accessible document management solutions are becoming essential.
— OPEX - 46% of employees struggle to find the information needed for their jobs, often due to disorganized document management systems.
— ECM Consultant - Only 31% of users regularly apply strong encryption (AES-256) to their PDFs when sharing sensitive information.
— Ponemon Institute: Data Protection Trends - 48% of employees mistakenly believe that saving a PDF with a password makes it “fully secure,” even though simple passwords can be easily cracked.
— Norton Cybersecurity Literacy Survey - 60% of organizations have experienced at least one security incident involving unauthorized access to PDF files in the last two years.
— IBM Security Report - Only 25% of enterprises utilize a document management system, indicating room for growth in adoption rates.
— File Center - PDFs with embedded JavaScript are 4x more likely to be flagged as potentially malicious by email security filters.
— Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence - Only 27% of companies have a consistent policy for securing PDFs across all departments, leading to fragmented and vulnerable workflows.
— AIIM Content Management Security Trends - Encrypted PDFs reduce data leakage risk by up to 85% when combined with digital rights management (DRM) tools.
— Forrester Research - PDF redaction errors (such as hidden metadata or improperly obscured text) are a leading cause of accidental data exposure in legal and government documents.
— U.S. National Archives Records Management Report
"PDF is the best format that guarantees the document's original form so that the audience will receive the same content as the [document you save]."
Navin Rao
SEO Expert
Source: Question Cage
Using PDFs in Different Industries
- The Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance sector accounts for 21.7% of the document management systems market, the largest by industry.
— File Center - 92% of law firms use PDF/A format for long-term digital archiving of case files and court documents.
— American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey - 75% of universities and colleges distribute course materials, syllabi, and exams in PDF format to ensure accessibility across platforms.
— EDUCAUSE Teaching and Learning Report - 82% of banks and financial institutions use PDFs for client statements, compliance documentation, and loan applications due to audit-readiness and digital signature compatibility.
— PwC Financial Services Technology Report - 89% of government agencies rely on PDF formats for public forms, legal notices, and policy documentation due to stability and accessibility compliance (e.g., PDF/UA).
— U.S. Digital Services Modernization Review - 66% of digital publishers use PDFs for distributing magazines, journals, and eBooks, especially in academic and B2B sectors.
— International Digital Publishing Forum - Only 28% of businesses use digital documentation solutions for human resources, suggesting potential for increased adoption.
— File Center - 70% of real estate agents and property managers use PDFs for leases, contracts, and disclosures due to legal validity and e-signature support.
— National Association of Realtors - 62% of creative professionals export deliverables (design drafts, proposals, portfolios) as PDFs to maintain visual fidelity across devices.
— Adobe Creative Cloud Usage Insights - 85% of HR departments deliver onboarding documents, performance reviews, and policy handbooks in PDF form for consistent formatting and security.
— SHRM HR Tech Survey
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