Statistical Summary of Languages 2009

A summary, by geographical area and type of publication, of the number of different languages and dialects in which publication of at least one book of the Bible has been registered as of December 31, 2009
 
Continent or Region
Portions
Testaments
Bibles
Bibles DC*
Total
 
Africa
223
335
173
34
731
Asia-Pacific
354
516
182
38
1052
Europe-Middle East
109
40
61
50
210
Americas
148
322
42
10
512
Constructed Languages
2
0
1
0
3
 
Total
836
1,213
459
132
2,508
 
 
Notes:          
The UBS Scripture Language Report is based on Scripture translations added in the past calendar year to the collections of the American Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. It also provides the most up-to-date account available of all the languages and dialects in which the complete Bible, the New Testament and individual books have been published since the Gutenberg Bible, the first to be printed using movable type, appeared in 1455 or 1456.

The Scripture Language Report is not a precise guide to Bible translation or publication activity in the period: rather the publications that have been registered in one of the two official Bible Society deposit libraries.

The statistics do not always permit meaningful year-to-year comparisons because attempts are continuously being made to improve their accuracy. This means that the basis on which they are compiled has varied over time. Although the Scripture Language Report is compiled by UBS, the Scriptures it takes into account are published by many different agencies.

* Bibles with DC column is a sub-section of the Bibles column - for example, there is a translation of the Deuterocanon for 50 of the 61 languages of Europe in which the Bible has been translated.

 
UBS Scripture Language Report for 2009