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2024 Global Scripture Access

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Total languages in the world: 7,396

Number of known users: 7.45 billion*

*The global population is estimated to be 8.12 billion. However, language user statistics tend to lag behind actual population statistics due to challenges in gathering and updating information. According to the most recently available information in SIL’s Ethnologue, 7.45 billion people use the world’s 7,396 known languages. For statistical agreement, percentages used here are based on the Ethnologue population number. Thus, global population percentages are given as 'up to…' rather than an exact number.

Languages and people with Scripture 

Scripture access status

**In most cases, the people use another language which already has at least some Scripture. Sometimes, their first language is disappearing from use altogether. The reality is often more complex.

Bible translation in progress

Bible translation is currently happening in 3,526 languages in 173 countries. Those languages and people numbers are embedded in the categories “At least some Scripture” and “Initial work in progress”. This current work impacts 1.26 billion people, or about 16.9 percent of all language users. This number does not include people who already have a full Bible but are updating their existing translations.

Need Bible translation to start

           

Wycliffe Global Alliance involvement snapshot, 2024

  • Alliance organisations are working in at least 3,146 languages.
  • Alliance organisations are involved in work in at least 146 countries.

Wycliffe Global Alliance historical snapshot

  • Over their histories, Alliance organisations have worked with at least 1,895 language communities in which there is now a New Testament or Bible.***
  • Over their histories, Alliance organisations have been involved in translating Scripture portions in an additional 871 languages.

***This includes assisting in initial translation and training, providing consultant help and funding, and participating in Scripture engagement activities and translation revisions.

Statistics are rarely as simple as the numbers imply 

Even though we strive to provide an accurate snapshot, Scripture access statistics are complex. For example, determining translation need is not as simple as determining which languages do or do not have Scripture. Most of the languages with “some Scripture” need more, and even full Bibles often undergo revisions. Also, comparisons with previous annual statistics are challenging and sometimes not useful, as data definitions and collection methods improve.

A better way of measuring Bible translation progress

Statistics provide one lens through which to measure progress in worldwide Bible translation. The real stories are found in changed lives and communities as people encounter God through his Word, and as the worldwide church moves toward greater unity in Christ.

Alliance organisations continue to explore other important indicators of progress such as:

  • How are language communities experiencing life-changing impact from Scripture?
  • Are churches increasingly taking leadership in the work of Bible translation?
  • Are churches, communities, and organisations partnering more effectively to carry out the work of translation together?

To read more, see: A missiology of progress: Assessing advancement in the Bible translation movement by Dr. Kirk Franklin.

Wycliffe Global Alliance presentations of global Scripture access statistics are compiled annually from data provided through ProgressBible by Alliance organisations, SIL International, United Bible Societies and many other partners. Data is current as of 1 September 2024, and is based on the most recently available information about first language users in SIL’s Ethnologue.

Further stories about people and projects are available at wycliffe.net and from your nearest Alliance organisation.

 

2023 Global Scripture Access

News

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05/2025 Global

Special Report - May 2025

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05/2025 Global

‘We’ve come very far, very fast’

A tech observer outlines what AI will mean soon for workplaces and ministry

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Global

Tech pioneer: Christians ‘have to show up’ for AI

Silicon Valley pioneer Pat Gelsinger was CEO of Intel Corporation until December 2024. Quickly realising his career in technology was not finished, he joined the faith/tech platform Gloo in early 2025 as the executive chair and head of technology. He is also a general partner at the venture capital firm Playground Global. Gelsinger was instrumental in the development of cloud computing, Wi-Fi, USB and many other everyday technologies. He estimates his work has touched 60 to 70 percent of humanity. Here are highlights of his keynote talk at the 2025 Missional AI Summit. You can watch his entire talk here. Pat Gelsinger (left) is interviewed onstage by Steele Billings. Both are with Gloo. Watch the full interview here. Is technology good or bad? Technology is neither good nor bad. It’s neutral. It can be used for good. It can be used for bad. … If you think back to the Roman roads, why did Christ come when he came? I’ll argue the Pax Romana and the Roman roads. … The greatest technology of the day was the Roman road system. It was used so the Word could go out. Historical example I will argue Martin Luther was the most significant figure of the last thousand years. And what did he do? He used the greatest piece of technology available at the day, the Gutenberg printing press. He created Bibles. … He broke, essentially, the monopoly on the Bible translations …. He ushered in education. He created the systems that led to the Renaissance. That’s a little punk monk who only wanted to get an audience with the pope because he thought he had a few theological errors. I’ll argue (Luther was) the most significant figure of the last thousand years, using technology to improve the lives of every human that he touched at the time. How today compares to the dawn of the internet AI is more important. AI will be more significant. AI will be more dramatic. … This is now incredibly useful, and we’re going to see AI become just like the internet, where every single interaction will be infused with AI capabilities.  In the 75-year-or-so history of computing, we humans have been adapting to the computer. … With AI, computers adapt to us. We talk to them. They hear us. They see us for the first time. And now they are becoming a user interface that fits with humanity. And for this and so many other reasons that every technology has been building on the prior technology, AI will unquestionably be the biggest of these waves, more impactful even than the internet was. On the need for AI development to be open-source It is so critical because we’re embedding knowledge, embedding values, embedding understanding into those underlying models, large language models and every aspect that happens. It must be open, and this is part of what I think is critical about us being together here today. We need to be creating trusted, open, useful AI that we can build humanity on.  On the need for Christians to help build AI systems We have to show up as the faith community to be influencing those outcomes, because remember what happened in the social media. We didn’t show up, and look at what we got. So are we going to miss this opportunity for something that’s far more important than social networking with AI? Where it truly in the models embeds every aspect of human history and values into it? We have to show up, team. What we do with large language models is far more important because truly we are choosing how we embody knowledge of all time into those underlying models. They need to be open. They need to be trusted. What Christians must bring to the process If we’re going to show up to influence AI broadly, we have to show up with good engineering, good data, good understanding, good frameworks. How do you measure things like ‘Is that leading to better character? Is that leading to better relationships? Is that creating better vocational outcomes? Is that a valid view of a spiritual perspective?’ We need good underlying data associated with each one of these. And for that we’re actively involved. We’re driving to create that underlying data set. Because we need to show up with good data if we’re going to influence how AI is created. How should this work? For the AI systems we need to create good benchmarks. If I ask about God, does it give me a good answer or not? If I ask about relationships with my children, does it give me good answers? We need to create the corpus of data to give good answers to those questions. And, armed with that good data, we need to show up to influence the total landscape of AI. We want to benchmark OpenAI. We’re going to benchmark Gemini. We’re going to benchmark Claude. We’re going to benchmark Copilot.  This is what we’re going to do at Gloo, but we want to be part of a broader community in that discussion so that we’re influential in creating flourishing AI. Technology is a force for good. AI that truly embeds the values that we care about, that we want to honour, that we want to be representing into the future and benchmarking across all of them.   Oh his role with Gloo We are going to change the landscape of the faith community and its role in shaping this most critical technology, AI, for faith and flourishing. That’s what we’re going to do at Gloo and we need all of your help and partnership to do so because if we don’t hang together, we’re not going to influence the outcome, right? ‘Here am I, Lord’ I don’t think I’m done. … You and I both need to come to the same position like Isaiah did. Here am I, Lord. Send me. Send me. Send us. That we can be shaping technology as a force for good. That we could grab this moment in time. This is the greatest time to live in human history. We’re going to solve diseases. We’re going to improve lives. We’re going to educate every person in poverty. We are going to solve climate issues. We are going to be using these technologies to improve the lives of every human on the planet. We are going to shape technology as a force for good. Here am I, Lord. Send me. ••• Story: Jim Killam, Wycliffe Global Alliance Translated with ChatGPT. How was the translation accuracy? Let us know at info@wycliffe.net. Alliance organisations are welcome to download and use images from this series.  

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