Bible sales are officially up 22% in the U.S. compared to the same time last year (2023), with first-time buyers fueling the surge.
“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” Evangelical Christian Publishers Association president Jeff Crosby told the Wall Street Journal about the sudden boom in Bible sales. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”
Booksellers say folks are coming into their stores to find the Bible as means of rediscovering hope. And the stats are pretty startling. “Bible sales rose to 14.2 million in 2023 from 9.7 million in 2019, and hit 13.7 million in the first 10 months of this year,” WSJ wrote in their article. Readers are also stocking up on related works, such as analyses, insights, and modern interpretations of the Word.
“I’d like to say there is a craving for knowledge of scripture, but a lot of smart people are thinking about Bible marketing and catering to every whim for Bible study,” J. Mark Bertrand, founder of Lectio. org said.
