Unicode 9.0 added 72 new emoji in 2016.
Unicode 9.0 was released on June 21, 2016, and expanded the range of pictorial characters available for digital text. Its additions included popular symbols such as Face With Cowboy Hat, Selfie, Shrug and Person in Tuxedo, alongside animals, food, objects and activities.
The number 72 refers to new emoji characters associated with that release, not to every possible platform image. A single emoji can have multiple vendor designs, and later sequences can create additional appearances by combining characters. Unicode versions also contain many ordinary writing-system characters that are not emoji.
Unicode’s annual releases provide the encoding framework, but users may not see new symbols immediately. Operating-system and app developers must add fonts, artwork and rendering support. That is why the arrival date can differ between platforms even when the Unicode release date is fixed.