How selling Pokémon cards outside Japan changed between 2000, when Hasbro sold them under licence, and the year to February 2026, when The Pokémon Company sells them

How it’s built

1. In 2000, Hasbro's Pokémon card sales are estimated at about $570m (15% of its $3.8bn revenue), falling to about $101m in 2001.
2. The Pokémon Company's card sales outside Japan for the year to February 2026 are estimated at $1.1–1.43bn.
3. That is about 1.9 to 2.5 times Hasbro's 2000 figure.

What we assumed

• Hasbro's 2000 card sales are 15% of its revenue, and all of its 2001 Pokémon games fall was cards.The share comes from ICv2, a trade publication; the 2001 fall was reported for games as a whole. Both land near ICv2's separate estimates.
• The Pokémon Company's non-Japan card revenue sits in a $1.1–1.43bn range.This range comes from the research's own model of the company's card business, not a reported figure.
• Japan's card publishing passed to The Pokémon Company around 2012.That date comes from a fan wiki; the research flags it as needing a primary source.

Sanity check

The two ends are not like for like: Hasbro's figure is a licensee's sales, today's is the rights owner's own publishing revenue. Treat the multiple as a scale comparison, not growth.

Where it comes from

Our calculation from other figures in the trainer’s notes:

• EstimateWho published and distributed Pokémon cards in Japan
• EstimateHow much Hasbro sold in Pokémon trading cards in the first boom year, 2000, and the year after, when the craze collapsed

Where it’s used

• StoryPartners & distribution
• Profile4Kids Entertainment
• ProfileHasbro / Wizards of the Coast