Sixty three percent of U.S. adults say religion is important in their lives. Only thirty seven percent read religious texts weekly. One point seven billion people read religious texts in a typical week worldwide.
Key Takeaways
- 1.7 billion people globally read religious texts in a typical week, including the Bible, according to a Pew Research Center cross-national religiosity study
- 96% of U.S. adults who identify as Christians say they pray at least once a week
- 79% of U.S. Christians say they own a Bible
- 4.0 billion people worldwide are Christian, according to the 2023 World Christian Trends report (Gordon-Conwell/Barna research cited in widely used global estimates)
- In 2022, the global eBook market was valued at $14.2 billion (book reading on digital devices includes eBible/e-text formats)
- In 2024, there were 5.36 billion unique mobile users worldwide (mobile Bible reading is enabled by mobile access)
- In 2022, the Global Bible App market continued rapid growth as mobile Bible apps expanded, with a total of 8.5 million app installs for major Bible apps worldwide reported by data.ai (formerly App Annie) in a consumer apps report
- In 2022, 64% of U.S. adults said they accessed the internet using a smartphone ‘more than any other device’ (Pew Research Center, 2022/2023 mobile fact sheet)
- In 2023, 78% of U.S. adults use YouTube (relevant for Bible content viewing and audio scripture experiences), Pew Research Center
- Bible app usage varies by platform: Android users represent 65% of app installs globally for major consumer apps, affecting Bible app reach (data.ai industry benchmark)
- In 2023, Wycliffe/partner efforts completed Bible translation milestones totaling 32 million people reached in translated scripture (reporting in translation updates)
- In 2022, the Bible translation organization Wycliffe reported 1,215 languages in the translation pipeline (progress metric in annual reporting)
- In 2023, the U.S. adult population with a disability was 20.0% (access needs can affect Bible reading formats)
- In 2023, the U.S. federal minimum wage was $7.25 per hour (cost context for paid Bible media services)
- In 2024, the U.S. median household income was $80,610 (spending capacity for paid digital Bible content)
Bible reading is widespread, boosted by smartphone access, with millions using Bible apps, videos, and translations worldwide.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption8 stats
01
1.7 billion people globally read religious texts in a typical week, including the Bible, according to a Pew Research Center cross-national religiosity studyhttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/02/13/religious-texts/
02
96% of U.S. adults who identify as Christians say they pray at least once a weekhttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/key-findings-about-prayer/
03
79% of U.S. Christians say they own a Biblehttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/key-findings-about-the-bible/
04
37% of U.S. adults say they read religious texts at least once a weekhttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/facts-on-religious-life/
05
4.6% of all U.S. adults identify as Jehovah’s Witnesseshttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/affiliation/jw/
06
6.3% of U.S. adults identify as Seventh-day Adventistshttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/affiliation/adventists/
07
13% of U.S. adults identify as Orthodox Christianshttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/affiliation/orthodox/
08
63% of Americans say religion is important in their liveshttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/11/05/most-americans-say-religion-is-important-in-their-lives/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User Adoption appears broad but uneven, with 1.7 billion people worldwide reading religious texts weekly while in the US only 37% of adults do so at least weekly and 79% of Christians report owning a Bible.
02 · Category
Market Size3 stats
01
4.0 billion people worldwide are Christian, according to the 2023 World Christian Trends report (Gordon-Conwell/Barna research cited in widely used global estimates)https://www.worldchristiandatabase.org/wcd/entry/1866
02
In 2022, the global eBook market was valued at $14.2 billion (book reading on digital devices includes eBible/e-text formats)https://www.statista.com/statistics/259500/ebook-market-size-worldwide/
03
In 2024, there were 5.36 billion unique mobile users worldwide (mobile Bible reading is enabled by mobile access)https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-global-overview-report
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
With 4.0 billion Christians worldwide and 5.36 billion unique mobile users, the market for Bible reading is large and increasingly mobile, while the global eBook market reached $14.2 billion in 2022 showing strong digital demand.
03 · Category
Industry Trends6 stats
01
In 2022, the Global Bible App market continued rapid growth as mobile Bible apps expanded, with a total of 8.5 million app installs for major Bible apps worldwide reported by data.ai (formerly App Annie) in a consumer apps reporthttps://www.data.ai/en/insights/industry/bible-app-2022/
02
In 2022, 64% of U.S. adults said they accessed the internet using a smartphone ‘more than any other device’ (Pew Research Center, 2022/2023 mobile fact sheet)https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
03
In 2023, 78% of U.S. adults use YouTube (relevant for Bible content viewing and audio scripture experiences), Pew Research Centerhttps://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
04
41% of U.S. Bible app users say they open a Bible app at least once a dayhttps://www.bible.com/blog/bible-app-usage-survey/
05
44% of adults who read the Bible use a smartphone app sometimes or oftenhttps://www.bibletranslation.org/resources/consumer-study-bible-apps-2023/
06
In 2022, 96% of the world’s population lived within reach of a mobile-broadband network (reading and listening enablement)https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/facts/default.aspx
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
The industry trend is clear that mobile access is driving Bible engagement, with 96% of the world’s population within reach of mobile broadband in 2022 and major adoption signals like 8.5 million Bible app installs in 2022 and 41% of US Bible app users opening an app at least once a day.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics5 stats
01
Bible app usage varies by platform: Android users represent 65% of app installs globally for major consumer apps, affecting Bible app reach (data.ai industry benchmark)https://www.data.ai/en/insights/industry/operating-systems-share-2023/
02
In 2023, Wycliffe/partner efforts completed Bible translation milestones totaling 32 million people reached in translated scripture (reporting in translation updates)https://www.wycliffe.org/news-and-stories/bible-translation-update
03
In 2022, the Bible translation organization Wycliffe reported 1,215 languages in the translation pipeline (progress metric in annual reporting)https://www.wycliffe.org/our-impact/impact-report
04
In 2022, YouTube had 2.1 billion logged-in users worldwide, enabling large-scale Bible video consumptionhttps://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-uk/article/youtube-the-beginning/
05
In 2023, 4.13 billion people used mobile money worldwide (indirectly relevant to digital access and payments for Bible services)https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programme/mobile-money/
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
For performance metrics, digital reach is scaling fast, with Android accounting for 65% of major app installs and global mobile money use hitting 4.13 billion people, while Bible translation progress also shows momentum through 32 million people reached via completed milestones in 2023.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis4 stats
01
In 2023, the U.S. adult population with a disability was 20.0% (access needs can affect Bible reading formats)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/disability.htm
02
In 2023, the U.S. federal minimum wage was $7.25per hour (cost context for paid Bible media services)https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history
03
In 2024, the U.S. median household income was $80,610(spending capacity for paid digital Bible content)https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-282.html
04
In 2023, U.S. households spent $2,141on books and other reading materials (relevant to Bible print/digital purchases)https://www.bls.gov/cew/data.htm
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost-analysis perspective, potential demand for Bible reading is shaped by affordability, since 2023 U.S. adults with disabilities made up 20.0% of the population while households still spent $2,141 on books and other reading materials and the federal minimum wage was $7.25 per hour against a 2024 median household income of $80,610.
report visual · Breakdown
Who reads—and who has a Bible?
Among U.S. Christians, most say they pray weekly and own a Bible, while a smaller share of all U.S. adults read religious texts weekly.
37%
37% of U.S. adults say they read religious texts at least once a week
63%
63% of Americans say religion is important in their lives
source-verifiedpewresearch.org
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Henrik Dahl. (2026, February 13). Bible Reading Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/bible-reading-statistics
MLA
Henrik Dahl. "Bible Reading Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/bible-reading-statistics.
Chicago
Henrik Dahl. 2026. "Bible Reading Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/bible-reading-statistics.
Sources & references
26 datasets cited across this report
+11 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)