There will be an estimated 8,200 million people in the world by the end of 2024. Two out of three have access to the internet.

This means that the majority of people on the planet have already digitised a part of their daily lives, including reading and writing. It is in this environment that Bible translations have become increasingly popular in digital format, especially for use on smartphones.

This is evident when in Christian worship services around the world a significant number of believers unlock their mobile phones when they want to read a suggested text from the pulpit.

Although there are hundreds of websites offering access to the Bible, there is one project that has become dominant globally: YouVersion, a project created in 2008 by Life.church and which has been offered free of charge since its launch.

Today, it offers over 2,000 versions or translations of the Bible. The ‘Bible App’, as it is known, not only allows users to consult biblical texts, but also offers reading plans created by users all over the world, as well as making it easier to take notes, share prayers, connect with social networks and listen to the Scriptures in audio version.

A global ministry

According to its 2023 report, the project once started in Oklahoma, USA soon became “a global ministry that’s still experiencing significant growth in daily Bible use in North America while also reaching new people worldwide”.

By October 2024, the Bible App had been downloaded over 727 million times on mobile devices all around the world. More than 80% of YouVersion installs happen outside of the United States, with India, Africa, and Latin America standing out most.

Only in India, internet users engaged with 700 versions of the Bible in more than 350 languages. “Children in India also engaged with Scripture at higher rates this year. The Bible App for Kids, which is available in 69 languages like Hindi and Bengali, saw a 131% increase in daily use in India as children engaged with the Bible through interactive animations and fun activities”, the organisation said.

In Africa, “daily Bible use was up 98% compared to last year”. Several countries “saw triple-digit growth including Kenya (225%), Cameroon (229%), and Uganda (288%)”. This growth was “partially due to the October 2022 launch of Bible App Lite, which was designed to help people access God’s Word in areas with device and data limitations”.

In Latin America, YouVersion saw remarkable year-over-year growth with a 107% rise in installs across the region.