Young adults fuel growing demand for Bibles

Bible sales are booming thanks to an increased interest among Generation Z, publishers say.

Christian publisher SPCK reported an increase in Bible sales of 87 per cent between 2019 and 2024, and identified it as a generational culture shift.

A survey by OnePoll in January found that 62 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds identified as “very” or “fairly” spiritual, compared to 35 per cent of people over 65.

Cultural shift

A spokeswoman for Nielsen Book Data reported that spending on religious books in total last year was £25.2 million – “up 3 per cent year-on-year”.

The Chief Executive of SPCK Sam Richardson said these figures showed that “we are at the centre of a significant cultural shift regarding matters of faith and religion”.

He added that events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the mental health crisis had made people “think deeply about their spirituality” and want to “draw their own conclusions by reading Christian books in general and the Bible in particular”.

Importance of the Bible

The Bible Society said that the sales for its youth edition of the Good News Bible have almost doubled since 2021, making it “by far our most popular”.

Bible Society Head of Communications Mark Woods, noted the “very clear increase in demand”. He said: “This seems to arise from a perception that the Bible has something important to say to young people, and from a desire to make it accessible to them.”

Josh Green, leader of the GenZeal project, stated: “There’s a change happening in our nation, so don’t for one second think about giving up.

“I also hope we are inspired to call young people deeper. When we give young people an opportunity to wholeheartedly follow Jesus, the evidence shows they’re ready to rise to a high bar.”