Bible Sales Soar in the U.K. and U.S. Signaling a Global Spiritual Awakening
Bible sales have nearly doubled in the United Kingdom in the past five years according to new data that reflects similar trends in the United States and indicates a growing hunger for God’s Word throughout the world. Sales of the Bible increased 87 percent in the U.K. between 2019 and 2024, according to data compiled by the Christian publisher SPCK Group using information from Nielsen Book Data. The Times newspaper in London first reported on the trend.
Books about religion are on the rise, too, in the United Kingdom, increasing 3 percent between 2023 and 2024 and bucking a nationwide decline that actually saw non-fiction book sales plummet 6 percent during that same timeframe.
The United States has seen a similar surge.
Last fall, The Wall Street Journal cited Circana BookScan book tracking data showing that Bible sales had increased 22 percent compared to the same time frame a year earlier. Similarly, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention said Bible sales had soared 30 percent in the past year, according to a December report.
A hunger for God’s Word is spreading across the globe. In Russia, Bible sales increased by 52 percent in the first three quarters of 2024, according to the country’s largest book chain.
The British-based Bible Society, co-founded in 1804 by William Wilberforce, reported that sales of its Good News Bible: The Youth Edition have nearly doubled since 2021.
Sam Richardson, chief executive of SPCK, told The Times that the Bible sales data suggests “we are at the center of a significant cultural shift regarding matters of faith and religion.”
A recent British survey found that individuals in their teens and twenties are less likely than any other age group to identify as atheist.
“Atheism, once considered by modern society to be the view of most rational adults, no longer seems to carry the same weight or appeal,” he said. “Young people -- Gen Z, in particular -- are statistically far less likely to identify as atheists than their parents.”
Events “like the Covid-19 pandemic and the mental health crisis” have led people to “think deeply about their spirituality,” Richardson added.
The Bible Society’s Mark Woods said, “There’s a very clear increase in demand” for Bibles.
Tommy Doughty, assistant professor of theology and Christian worldview at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in the U.S., suggested in a Baptist Press story last year that Gen Z may be driving the interest in Scripture.
“They are now well into young adulthood -- with the oldest past college age and youngest passing puberty,” Doughty told Baptist Press. “Rather than the internet-driven popular culture they have been drowning in, I wouldn’t be surprised if many are beginning to look for real-life answers now they are faced with social and career decisions.”
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published March 17, 2025.
