Scripture translation.

How many of the world's roughly 7,400 languages have the Bible, the New Testament or some Scripture, and how many still wait for translation to begin, year by year, from the agencies' own published figures.

Reach map Scripture translation Growth

Measured 3Definition changed 2Goal missed 1

Languages, by Scripture available

Some ScriptureFull BibleNew Testament (no full Bible)Waiting for work to begin

Wycliffe Global Alliance statistics (archived yearly pages, 2011-2021, and its 2025 page) and Wycliffe UK's State of the Bible (2023, 2024). Each year is the date of the data (usually 1 October of the year before publication). The waiting list changed method in 2016 and 2018 (sign languages counted from 2018). The 1999 value is the 2025 page's "more than 5,000".

3,756 (2024)

Languages with some Scripture

From about 2,700 languages in 2011 to 3,756 in 2024, now just over half the world's languages.

Measured

756 (2024)

Languages with a full Bible

From 698 languages in 2019 to 756 in 2024, used by about 6 billion people.

Measured

1,726 (2024)

Languages with a New Testament but not a full Bible

From 1,548 languages in 2019 to 1,726 in 2024.

Measured

544 (August 2025)

Languages still waiting for translation to begin

From over 5,000 in 1999 and 2,040 in 2011 to 544 in 2025, with two changes of method along the way.

Definition changed

4,457 (2025)

Languages with translation work in progress

Work under way rose from about 2,200 languages in 2013 to over 4,000, as agencies count it.

Definition changed

544 still waiting (2025)

Vision 2025: translation under way in every language that needs it

The goal adopted in 1999 was not met by 2025, though the waiting list fell by about nine-tenths.

Goal missed

← All figures

Languages with translation work in progress

GradeDefinition changed

Latest: 4,457 (2025)
Source: Wycliffe Global Alliance; Wycliffe UK

The Christian case

Bible translation is now under way in more languages than ever. The Wycliffe Global Alliance reported in August 2025 that "4,457 languages have Bible translation 'work in progress'". Its yearly counts show the growth: 2,167 languages in 2013, 2,400 in 2016 and 2,658 in 2018, and Wycliffe UK counted 4,012 in 2024. For Christians, this is a sign of how many people are at work bringing Scripture into the world's languages.

What the research found

Definition changed: the series rose from about 2,200 languages in 2013 to over 4,000, but the agencies have not always counted the same thing. In 2023 the Wycliffe Global Alliance said translation was "currently happening in 3,283 languages", while Wycliffe UK gave "3,742 languages have work in progress" for the same year, probably because one count included preparatory work and the other did not. After 2019 the series mixes definitions, so the direction is clear but the exact growth is not.

Explore the counterarguments

"Work in progress" is a broad category. The Alliance itself notes that it "doesn't always mean people have Scripture access yet", and that "1,712 languages from the work-in-progress list do not have any verses translated yet". The figures are the agencies' own counts of their own work.