Thanks to its global gaming hits led by Pokémon GO, the Pokémon Company raked in around $1.6bn last year, marking the best financial year in its history. However, besides a massive player base counted in tens of millions of people, the Pokémon Company has also grown an army of fans collecting Pokémon trading cards.
According to data presented by Safe Betting Sites, the Pokémon trading card game hit 43.2 billion in lifetime sales this year.
More than 20% of Lifetime Sales Made in FY 2022
The Pokémon Trading Card Game has sold billions of cards over the past two decades, but in FY 2022, sales figures skyrocketed.
According to Pokeguardian data, in FY 2017, ending in March 2017, the company sold 2.1 billion of its popular trading cards, with lifetime sales reaching 25.7 billion that year.
In the next three years, annual card sales amounted to around 1.6 billion, and by the end of FY 2020, Pokémon TCG lifetime sales hit 30.4 billion. In 2021, during its 25th Anniversary Year, the company reported a stunning record-breaking year in Europe at retail, with a surge in sales of its Pokémon Trading Card Game and toy lines across European countries. Statistics show that 3.7 billion cards were sold in that fiscal year alone, with lifetime sales rising to 34.1 billion.
However, in FY 2022, sales figures exploded, with 9.1 billion sold Pokémon cards for a lifetime total of 43.2 billion. Statistics show this was the Pokémon Trading Card Game’s best year, bringing 21% of its lifetime sales.
Global Card Games Revenues to Drop by 7% in 2022
Today, card games like Pokémon TCG, The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh! have millions of fans worldwide spending billions of dollars each year, with China, India, and the US as the top three markets. According to a Statista survey, this huge fan base helped the entire market to double its value in the past seven years, growing from $3.22bn in 2013 to $6.61 last year.
However, after years of continuous growth, the card games market is forecast to shrink in 2022, with revenues falling by 7% to $6.18bn. In 2023, this figure is expected to recover to $6.9bn, and by 2025 the entire market will hit over $8bn value.
