Bible Society worldwide distributed more than 29 million Bibles during 2009. This is three percent more than the previous year. As well, over 11 million New Testaments were distributed.

390.5 million other Scriptures – including individual books of the Bible and selected Bible passages –  were also distributed last year.

The country with the greatest distribution was Brazil who sent out a staggering 221 million items of Scriptures. There were also large overall increases in Scriptures distributed in the Philippines, Honduras and Panama.

New Zealand distributed 77,500 Bibles in 2009, a 16 percent increase on the previous year. New Testaments and individual books of the Bible and selected Bible passages distributed here totalled 761,996, up from 531,646 in 2008.