Bible sales: Why the world’s most stolen book is also the most sold

When you think of the Bible, the most widely distributed and frequently stolen book in human history. Also known as the Good Book, it’s not just a religious text—it’s a cultural artifact found in hotel rooms, hospitals, prisons, and libraries across every continent. No other book comes close in terms of sheer volume printed, handed out, or taken without permission.

Why does this happen? It’s not because people want to steal something valuable. The Bible is often given away for free—by organizations like Gideons International, which has placed over 2 billion copies since 1899. These aren’t rare editions. They’re plain, mass-produced, and intentionally left in places where people might need comfort, hope, or a quiet moment. That’s why the Gideon Bible, the specific edition distributed in hotels and hospitals worldwide is the single most stolen book on record. People don’t steal it to sell. They steal it because they take it home, or because they think someone else might need it more.

Bible sales numbers are staggering. Over 5 billion copies have been printed since the invention of the printing press, and it still sells around 100 million copies a year. That’s more than any novel, self-help book, or textbook combined. In countries where religious texts are restricted, the Bible is still smuggled, shared secretly, and copied by hand. It’s not just about faith—it’s about access, identity, and survival. In places like North Korea or China, owning a Bible can be dangerous. Yet people still risk it. That’s why the religious book sales, the global market for sacred texts driven by faith, tradition, and cultural need remains one of the most resilient in publishing.

The data doesn’t lie. The Bible isn’t just the most stolen book—it’s the most read, the most translated, and the most given. It shows up in unexpected places: a soldier’s pocket, a refugee’s bag, a child’s school desk. And every time it’s taken, whether by accident, intention, or need, it’s still doing its job. The posts below dig into why this happens, what the numbers really mean, and how a book that costs almost nothing can still be the most powerful object on the planet.