In short
People increasingly read the Bible on a screen, but print has not disappeared. YouVersion, the world's most popular Bible app, reached more than 1 billion installs across its family of apps in November 2025, with global installs up 12% year over year. In the United States, about two-thirds of "Bible Users" (66%) now access Scripture digitally at least some of the time, and 62% of digital users open Bible apps, per the American Bible Society (a "Bible User" engages Scripture on their own at least three times a year). Younger readers lead the shift to apps, podcasts, and social platforms, while print Bibles and audio Scripture keep spreading worldwide.
- YouVersion crossed 1 billion Bible-app installs in 2025, with daily usage up 18% in a year.
- Two-thirds of US Bible Users (66%) now reach Scripture digitally, and 62% of them favor apps.
- Format splits by age: 59% of Gen Z digital users pick apps, a third use podcasts, a quarter use TikTok.
- Print is not dead: 77% of US adults own a Bible, and 148.3 million printed Scriptures shipped worldwide in 2025.
People increasingly read the Bible on a screen, but print has not disappeared. YouVersion, the world's most popular Bible app, reached more than 1 billion installs across its family of apps in November 2025, with global installs up 12% year over year, per YouVersion (Life.Church). In the United States, about two-thirds of "Bible Users" (66%) now access Scripture digitally at least some of the time, and 62% of digital users open Bible apps, according to the American Bible Society's State of the Bible 2025 (a "Bible User" means engaging with Scripture on one's own at least three times a year). Marquee sources: YouVersion, the American Bible Society, Pew Research Center, and United Bible Societies.
installs across YouVersion's family of Bible apps by Nov 2025
of US Bible Users access Scripture digitally at least sometimes
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouVersion Bible-app family installs | 1 billion+ | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| US Bible Users accessing Scripture digitally | 66% | 2025 | American Bible Society |
| US digital Bible users who most often use apps | 62% | 2025 | American Bible Society |
| US adults who read Scripture weekly | 22% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults who own a Bible | 77% | 2025 | American Bible Society |
| Printed Scriptures distributed worldwide | 148.3 million | 2025 | United Bible Societies |
Smartphone dominance: the Bible app era
The Bible app is now the default reading surface for a huge share of readers. YouVersion's scale and America's shift to app-first access anchor this section.
YouVersion's family of Bible apps reached more than 1 billion device installs worldwide as of November 2025, according to YouVersion (Life.Church).
Daily usage of YouVersion's Bible apps grew 18% in 2025 compared with the prior year, according to YouVersion (Life.Church).
About 21% of US adults use apps or websites to help them read Scripture, according to Pew Research Center (2023).
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouVersion global app installs, year-over-year growth | 12% | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| Languages with a Bible experience in the app | 2,300+ | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| Bible translations offered in the app | 3,600+ | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| App opens across the YouVersion family | 1 billion / 39 days | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| Single-day record app opens (Nov 2, 2025) | 19 million+ | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| Bible Plan days completed, on average | 40 / second | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| Verses highlighted, bookmarked, or noted, on average | 112 / second | 2025 | YouVersion (Life.Church) |
| US Android downloads, YouVersion (modeled estimate) | ~3M / month | 2025 | Sensor Tower |
| US adults using apps/websites for any spiritual purpose | 37% | 2023 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults using apps to read Scripture every day | 9% | 2023 | Pew Research Center |
| Highly religious US adults using apps to read Scripture | 52% | 2023 | Pew Research Center |
Print vs digital vs audio: how Americans read now
State of the Bible 2025 breaks down the formats US Bible Users actually reach for, from print to apps to audio and video.
Two-thirds of US Bible Users (66%) access the Bible digitally at least some of the time in 2025, according to the American Bible Society.
Among US digital Bible users, 62% say they most often interact with Scripture through a Bible app in 2025, according to the American Bible Society.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults reading Scripture weekly outside services | 22% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults who seldom or never read Scripture outside services | 61% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
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The rise of audio and video Scripture
Listening and watching are the fastest-growing ways younger readers engage, both in US surveys and global digital-engagement counts.
United Bible Societies platforms logged 1.4 billion audio Scripture plays in 2025, according to United Bible Societies.
United Bible Societies platforms recorded 32.2 billion digital Bible chapter views in 2025, a 13.8% year-over-year increase, according to United Bible Societies.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z adult digital Bible users who use podcasts or webcasts | 33% | 2025 | American Bible Society |
| Gen Z adult digital Bible users reached on TikTok | 24% | 2025 | American Bible Society |
Younger readers are going digital-first
Gen Z and Millennials lead the shift to apps, podcasts, and social platforms, and their overall Bible reading rose sharply in 2025.
Among US Gen Z adult digital Bible users, 59% use a Bible app in 2025, according to the American Bible Society.
Weekly Bible reading among US Gen Z adults rose from 30% in 2024 to 49% in 2025, according to Barna Group.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults reading the Bible weekly (up from 30% in 2024) | 42% | 2025 | Barna Group |
| Weekly Bible reading among US Millennial adults (from 34%) | 34% to 50% | 2025 | Barna Group |
| US adults qualifying as Bible Users (~110 million, from 38%) | 41% | 2025 | American Bible Society |
Print still matters, and Scripture keeps spreading
Printed Bibles remain widely read and distributed, while translation and digital access keep expanding worldwide.
More than three in four US adults (77%) say they own a Bible in 2025, up from 74% the prior year, according to the American Bible Society.
United Bible Societies distributed 148.3 million printed Scriptures worldwide in 2025, including 22.4 million full Bibles, according to United Bible Societies.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| World languages with at least some Scripture (of ~7,393) | 4,121 | 2026 | Wycliffe Global Alliance / ProgressBible |
| Scripture texts in the Digital Bible Library (2,444 languages) | 4,100+ | 2025 | United Bible Societies |
How we compiled these statistics
Every figure on this page is traced to a primary source and dated to the year the data was collected. App-scale and engagement figures come from YouVersion (Life.Church) first-party reporting and its 2025 Verse of the Year release; we label these as installs and app opens rather than unique users, and flag the Sensor Tower download figure as a modeled vendor estimate. US format, ownership, and Bible-User figures come from the American Bible Society's State of the Bible USA 2025, with the "Bible User" definition (engaging Scripture on one's own at least three times a year outside worship) labeled wherever it appears. Frequency figures come from Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, generational reading trends from Barna Group's 2025 research, and global distribution and access figures from United Bible Societies and the Wycliffe Global Alliance / ProgressBible 2025 Global Scripture Access Statistics. We excluded the retracted UK "Quiet Revival" data and kept only format and access behavior.
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Frequently asked questions
Sources
- YouVersion (Life.Church), Bible App Reaches One Billion Installs
- YouVersion (Life.Church), 2025 Verse of the Year and Bible Engagement (via PR Newswire)
- American Bible Society, State of the Bible USA 2025 release
- American Bible Society, State of the Bible report landing page
- Pew Research Center, Use of apps and websites in religious life (2023)
- Pew Research Center, Prayer, reading scripture and other religious practices (2023-24 Religious Landscape Study)
- Barna Group, How Millennials and Gen Z Are Driving a Bible Reading Comeback (2025)
- United Bible Societies, Distribution Statistics Report 2025 (25 billion Scriptures in 80 years)
- Wycliffe Global Alliance / ProgressBible, 2025 Global Scripture Access Statistics
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