10 Billion Pokémon Cards Were Printed Last Year — and It Still Wasn't Enough to Stop Shortages and Scalping

The Pokémon Company manufactured much than 10 cardinal Pokémon trading cards past twelvemonth alone, and has present produced a staggering full of 85 cardinal cards to date.

Just past year's fig of cards represents a higher fig than the fig of radical connected the planet. But it's besides particularly shocking considering the proviso issues inactive faced by Pokémon cards — that are inactive hard to find contempt that immense accumulation volume.

New paper releases person perpetually been scuppered by scalping, in-store squabbles and changeless sell-outs. The immense popularity of Pokémon cards (and successful peculiar the rarer varieties) has besides led to a never-ending spate of thefts, with dozens of instances wherever trading paper stores were breached into reported crossed the U.S. alone.

The latest Pokémon paper accumulation figures travel from a freshly-updated leafage connected The Pokémon Company's website, which lists the franchise's assorted income milestones (as of the extremity of March 2026).

In the satellite of Pokémon video games, much than 515 cardinal "Pokémon-related software" units person been shipped to date, with 16 cardinal shipped successful the past twelvemonth alone. This volition apt see the 4 cardinal copies of Pokémon Pokopia sold connected Nintendo Switch since the game's debut successful aboriginal March. Last twelvemonth besides saw continued beardown income for earlier games specified arsenic Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which has present deed 12 cardinal copies crossed Switch and Switch 2.

Just yesterday, reports emerged of a Florida antheral who had been arrested aft $12,000 of Pokémon cards were stolen successful a heist that progressive a battery-powered chainsaw. Last month, different hopeless Pokémon instrumentality was arrested successful Pasadena, California, aft hiding wrong a closed Best Buy up of a Pokémon paper drop. And backmost successful January, unit and shoppers were held astatine gunpoint successful a brazen raid astatine a paper store successful Manhatten arsenic $100,000 worthy of banal was swiped.

Image credit: Martin Lelievre / AFP via Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social