Book stores and publishers had one reason to rejoice this year as a longtime bestseller experienced a new spike in popularity.
Bible sales rose 22% through October compared to the same period last year, according to new data from Circana Bookscan, reported on by The Wall Street Journal. Total U.S. print book sales were only up 1%, the outlet reported.
Publishers credited new marketing and designs, general anxiety in the world, and a surge of young, first-time buyers, with the Bible boom.
“You have a generation that wants to find things that feel more solid,” Amy Simpson of Tyndale House Publishers told The Wall Street Journal.Cely Vazquez, an influencer who has appeared on the reality TV show “Love Island USA,” recently bought her first Bible and told The Wall Street Journal she felt it “symbolized I was starting a walk with God.”
“I felt something was missing. It’s a combination of where we are in the world, general anxiety and the sense that meaning and comfort can be found in the Bible,” Vazquez, 28, said.
The surge in Bible sales comes even as polling shows a decline in religiosity across the country.
The share of Americans identifying with a Christian religion hit a low of 68% last year, according to Gallup polling. Half a century ago, 87% of adults in the U.S. identified as Christian, Gallup found.
About 28% of American adults are now religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research. Pew previously predicted that if declines continue, Christianity could become a minority religion by 2045.
But publishers say buyers are flocking to the Bible and related books from religious retailers and mainstream bookstores alike. A flood of new editions and eye-catching designs has also swept the market.
Ahead of Easter, President-elect Donald Trump partnered with country singer Lee Greenwood to sell “God Bless the USA” Bibles for $59.99. Trump called the Bible his “favorite book” in a video shared on Truth Social and said every American should have a copy in their home.
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The “God Bless the USA” Bibles are not included in the Circana BookScan figures, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Worries over subjects like artificial intelligence and politics, especially around election time, could also be driving the trend, Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, told the Journal.
“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” Crosby said. “All of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”
The Christian Bible is the best-selling book of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and around 80 million new Bibles are printed each year.
