Scripture Access Statistics

Did you know that approximately 6,900 languages are spoken by the 6.9 billion people on earth?

Of these language communities, 2,479 have some or all of the Bible in their mother tongue according to Scripture registered with the United Bible Societies as of Dec 31^st 2008 (451 have an adequate Bible; 1,185 have an adequate New Testament; 843 have just portions of Scripture).

Of the remaining languages with no known scripture or a translation program in progress, current estimates suggest around 353 million people speaking 2,252 languages may have a need for Bible translation…

… Over the last year, Wycliffe staff have contributed to the completion of 2 Bibles, 25 New Testaments, and 26 New Testament revisions, affecting some 10 million people. Alongside translated Scripture, Wycliffe has also been involved in 6 JESUS film productions, 4 Luke Videos, and 4 Genesis videos. In 2009 Faith Comes by Hearing started production of audio New Testaments in 56 languages that involved Wycliffe personnel.

Since Wycliffe began, its staff have also worked with others in the production of 118 Jesus films, 204 Luke Videos, 44 Genesis videos, 193 Faith Comes By Hearing audio scriptures, and helped produce over 11,300 literacy/education materials; 470 development related materials; and over 1,200 health related materials all in mother tongues.

You can find the full statistics here along with a number of pdf information sheets giving more details about Bible translation statistics.