Wait. How Many People Have Access to the Bible?

For many Australians, getting our hands on a Bible can be as simple as going to our bookshelf, visiting a church or opening an app.

Incredibly, more than 90 per cent of the planet’s population is in a similar position.

“There’s actually 7.6 billion people worldwide who have access to the Scripture,” Bible Society Australia CEO Chris Melville told Hope Mornings.

But that reality is far from universal.

While Chris celebrated the global progress of spreading God’s word, his heart broke for those without it.

About 123 million people still have no part of Scripture available to them. At all.

Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by

“There’s no Scripture in their language. Zero. None,” Chris said.

More than 1.5 billion people do not have access to the full Bible in their heart language.

Internationally, Bible Society is involved with Bible translations across hundreds of language groups, with ongoing efforts to reach communities receiving Scripture for the first time.

“We live in a day that we think things are just easy to do,” Chris said.

“Yet 123 million people don’t have access to God’s Word.”

Australia’s Indigenous translation challenge

Closer to home, Chris pointed to a striking Australian statistic.

“Here in Australia, there’s only one Indigenous language that has access to the full Bible out of, roughly, 120 [Indigenous languages],” he said.

Kriol is spoken in the tropical north of Australia. While other Indigenous languages have portions of the Old or New Testaments – or individual Gospels – Kriol is the only translation of the entire Bible.

“We’re hoping that the Pitjantjatjara will be the second in the next five or six years,” he said.

Bible Society Australia’s translation projects include ongoing work with Indigenous communities to increase access to Scripture in first languages.

Sharing hope, one Bible at a time

During 2026, Bible Society Australia hopes to distribute more than 300,000 physical Bibles globally and 170,000 across Australia.

For Chris, the mission is about more than big numbers.

Numbers are great, but numbers don’t say the real hope that the Bible offers.

“Numbers are great, but numbers don’t say the real hope that the Bible offers,” Chris said.

“We are all about helping people engage with God’s Word.”

Even as Bible Society Australia wants to help the entire world have access to the Bible, Chris narrows focus down to one life changed forever.

At a recent event, Bible Society Australia encouraged everyone present to give a Bible away rather than keep it.

“Within a week, we had five people come back to us,” Chris said about the reports of Bibles being handed out.

“One person became a Christian [after receiving the free Bible].”

“It was mind-blowing. It was unbelievable.”

“God’s Word is powerful.

“It’s just amazing that such a simple gesture of offering a Bible to someone could change that person’s life.”

Listen to the full conversation in the player above.

Feature image: Canva Pro