The first stamp albums were printed and sold in the early 1880's. Copies of these albums can still be found from time to time. Stamp collecting is less popular a hobby today than it was in the past, but an estimated 25 million people collect stamps in the United States alone. Worldwide, there are more than 200 million collectors. They are supported by more than 125,000 dealers, supply manufacturers, catalogue and other print media publishers, and thousands of clubs and associations.
Stamp dealers sell millions of dollars' worth of stamps and supplies annually.
There are more than 4000 stamp shows and exhibitions in the United States each year, and large international exhibits can attract more than 100,000 visitors a day. Many stamp collectors arrange their collections according to the type of storage they use for those collections. Others make their own album pages, and arrange their stamps in a way that pleases them. For most worldwide stamp albums, stamps are arranged according to the issuing country, and then usually chronologically, for either all of the stamps issued, or for each group by type, within each country. Such people may arrange the individual stamps within a topic by sub-topics.