Report: More Than 125 Million Christians Want a Bible but Have None
The Bible Access List 2026 finds that Bible app use keeps rising, yet cost, lack of internet and the risk of punishment still keep Scripture away from hundreds of millions of believers.
About this photo ›More than 125 million Christians around the world want a Bible but do not own one, according to the Bible Access List 2026, released this month by the Bible Access Initiative, a partnership of Bible agencies and ministries. The Christian Index reported the findings Oct. 22.
The report estimates that more than 500 million Christians face some kind of restriction on getting the Scriptures. For more than 250 million of them, access is rated very difficult.
The study also tracks growing digital reading. YouVersion, one of the partners, reported that daily use of its Bible apps rose more than 13% worldwide in 2026, to 18.5 million people a day, and that it added more than 160 million new installs this year. Daily use grew 72% in Senegal and Zimbabwe and 52% in Ethiopia.
But the authors warn that a Bible being translated or posted online does not mean believers can actually get it. “Availability does not necessarily mean access,” the report says, pointing to cost, a lack of electricity or internet, and the danger of punishment.
Afghanistan ranks first on the report's Bible Restrictions List, followed by Yemen, Somalia, North Korea and Eritrea. Printing and distributing Bibles is prohibited or severely restricted in 39 countries, and 38 countries restrict or ban bringing Bibles in. More than 400 million Christians in 42 countries have no internet access, and about 277 million Christians in 48 more countries live where reading Scripture online is unsafe, restricted or monitored.
The largest estimated shortages are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria and India, each with more than 10 million Christians who want a Bible, the report found.
This year's study covered 106 countries, up from 88 last year. Steering partners include Bible League International, Digital Bible Society, Frontlines International, Voice of the Martyrs and YouVersion, with Biblica, Close the Bible Gap, OneHope and Open Doors International contributing. The report closes with a question for the church: “How do we get Bibles to our brothers and sisters in Christ?”
