2007 Language & Bible Translation Statistics

In 2007, Wycliffe was involved in the completion of:

• 2 whole Bible translations

• 9 New Testament translations

• 6 translations of the JESUS film

• 6 translations of the Luke video - a video of the book of Luke

• 5 translations of the Genesis video - a video of the book of Genesis

In this millennium . . .

• 15 whole Bible translations have been completed

• 84 New Testament translations have been completed

• 1,487 communities have received portions of Scripture, 206 of them (nearly 55 million people) for the first time

• 592 language programs began (83 percent of those with Wycliffe involvement)

As of Oct. 30, 2007 . . .

• 6.5 Billion: World population [Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

• 193 Million: People who do not have access to Scripture that is understandable or meaningful for them

• 6,912: Language groups in the world today [Source: Ethnologue, 15th edition 2005]

• 1,953: Language development and translation programs known to be in progress worldwide

  • 1,415: Current Bible translation efforts with which Wycliffe is involved. That's just over 70 percent of all current translation projects and impacts more than 568 million people

• 2,426: Languages with some or all of the Bible

  • 429: Languages with an adequate Bible

  • 1,144: Languages with an adequate New Testament

  • 853: Languages with portions of translated Scripture

• 2,251: Languages that still do not have any Bible translation program in place

  • Most remaining translations are in unwritten languages found in Central Africa, mainland and Southeast Asia, and the Indo-Pacific region. These groups may live outside the mainstream, separated by invisible barriers of language and culture. With the creation of a written language - the first step in Bible translation - these barriers are lowered

• 592: New translation efforts launched worldwide in Bibleless language communities since October 1, 1999. Wycliffe has been involved in 490 - or 83 percent - of these translations

•  93: Countries in which Wycliffe personnel are working

• 6,453: Wycliffe personnel

• 3,000+: Additional U.S. personnel likely needed to accomplish Vision 2025. Thousands more are needed throughout the world

These statistics offer the most current estimates available. Ongoing improvements in information gathering may result in occasional discrepancies in the totals from year to year. Statistics from October 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007.

Source: 2007 Wycliffe Bible Translators for all stats (except where otherwise indicated)
 

-30-