The world’s best-selling Bible translation has just crossed a historic milestone —and is quietly funding a Scripture network that reached 195 countries and engaged over a hundred million people with God’s Word in the last year alone.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., and COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—September 17, 2026—More than 680 million copies of the New International Version (NIV) Bible have now been distributed worldwide since its debut in 1978, making it the best-selling and most-read modern English Bible translation in history. But behind every NIV purchased lies a mission most readers never see: every copy sold helps fund Biblica, the global Bible ministry and steward of the NIV. Now in its third century of mission, Biblica continues to produce relevant and reliable Scripture translations and innovative resources that invite millions of people to discover the love of Jesus Christ in their own language.
That mission depends on a clear division of roles: Biblica holds the copyright to the NIV, but the NIV text itself is entrusted to the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), an independent body of 15 world-class evangelical scholars from a wide range of denominations and various countries. The CBT continually reviews new research to ensure the NIV remains at the forefront of accessibility, relevance, and authority. Both Zondervan and Biblica take their involvement in the spread of this translation seriously and have long operated on a simple principle: royalties from NIV Bible sales flow directly to Biblica’s ministry work—one of the most significant, least publicized engines behind global Bible access today.
“Every time someone purchases an NIV Bible, they’re not just choosing the Bible that has shaped English-speaking faith for nearly fifty years,” said Melinda Bouma, SVP, Associate Group Publisher, Zondervan Bibles, Academic, and Reflective. “They’re joining a much bigger story of getting God’s Word into the hands of people around the world who are still waiting for it.”
A Global Impact
According to Biblica’s 2025 Annual Report, the scale of that “bigger story” is striking. Royalties from NIV sales have helped the ministry deploy Bible translations across 102 languages and engage people in 195 countries. That momentum is showing up closer to home, too: new Barna research found that Gen Z and Millennials are now attending church more regularly than any generation before them at this stage in the trend, with the typical Gen Z churchgoer attending nearly two weekends a month—a marked reversal from a decade of decline. Bible sales reflect that same shift. According to Circana BookScan data reported by Publishers Weekly, U.S. Bible sales hit a 21-year high in 2025, with 19 million units sold—up 12% compared to 2024, and double the number sold in 2019. Together, the data points to a generation returning to church and Scripture in new numbers, with many finding a clear translation like the NIV a steady companion along the way.
In remote African villages, one of Biblica’s recently completed translations has become a lifeline for a church under active persecution. A local pastor has continued preaching the Gospel even after his father-in-law, also a pastor, was abducted and killed for his faith. Rather than silencing the movement, the tragedy galvanized it: in the past year, that pastor’s network has reached more than 5,700 young people and baptized over 1,000 new believers. Each new believer receives something many could never otherwise afford: their own first Bible, provided through Biblica’s ministry partners.
“The Bible they receive is precious to them,” the pastor said in reflection. “This is the biggest gift they will ever receive in their lives.”
Similar stories are unfolding across Biblica’s ministry footprint—from digital Scripture delivered on SD cards to underground churches in Cuba, to a “Bible on blockchain” technology now reaching believers in countries where owning a printed Bible can mean imprisonment.
“Most readers know how the NIV has shaped their own lives. What they may not realize is that their Bible is a starting line, not a finish line,” said Jonathan Call, Chief Growth Officer, Biblica. “Every purchase becomes fuel for translators and courageous believers getting Scripture into places it has never been before.”
For nearly five decades, the NIV has been read from pulpits, studied in living rooms, and gifted at graduations and baptisms across the English-speaking world. What’s less known is that each of those moments is connected—through Biblica—to a translator in a language most people have never heard of, a pastor risking his life to preach, or a woman in a remote village receiving her first copy of God’s Word.
The NIV, in other words, isn’t just a Bible people read. It’s a Bible that keeps giving.
About Biblica
Biblica, The International Bible Society, is a global Bible ministry that has been providing Scripture in accurate, contemporary translations and formats for more than 200 years. Biblica holds the copyright to the New International Version (NIV) and is committed to translating and freely releasing God’s Word so that people around the world—a billion of whom are still waiting to experience God’s Word in a language and format they understand. Learn more at biblica.com.
About Zondervan
Zondervan, publisher of the NIV, is a worldwide leader in Christian publishing and part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Zondervan publishes Bibles in a wide range of translations and formats for readers at every stage of their spiritual journey. Learn more at zondervan.com.
About the NIV
The New International Version (NIV) is the world’s best-selling modern-English Bible translation—accurate, readable, and clear, yet deeply faithful to the detail of the original languages. For over 50 years, the Committee on Bible Translation has overseen the work of scholars from around the world to ensure the NIV remains accessible, relevant, and authoritative. Every NIV purchased helps Biblica translate and distribute Scripture to people around the globe. Learn more at thenivbible.com.
Media Contact:
Serena DeKryger, Manager of Publicity and Reader Engagement, serena.dekryger@harpercollins.com
