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Top Ten Best-Selling Bible Translations Compared to Ten Years Ago (2021 Update)

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rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Interesting, thanks!

It is not clear to me where these are the bestsellers (U.S., North America, Internationally?). I went to the ECPA site and what I found there did not clarify it either.
The ECPA Bestsellers Lists rank the bestselling books published by ECPA members from the previous month, as reported to NPD BookScan (formerly Nielsen Bookscan) by these reporting retailers.
Click to expand...
However, when you click on "these reporting retailers," it appears these are primarily (if not altogether) U. S. sales.

While there, I found they had posted the numbers for July 2021. You might be interested in the slight variation from June 2021 to July 2021.

June 2021
  1. New International Version (NIV) (1)
  2. King James Version (KJV) (2)
  3. New Living Translation (NLT) (4)
  4. English Standard Version (ESV) (5)
  5. New King James Version (NKJV) (3)
  6. Christian Standard Bible (CSB) (6)
  7. Reina Valera (RV) (not ranked)
  8. New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) (9)
  9. The Message (Message) (8)
  10. Nueva Version International (NVI)(not ranked)
July 2021
  1. New International Version
  2. King James Version
  3. New Living Translation
  4. English Standard Version
  5. Christian Standard Bible
  6. New King James Version
  7. Reina Valera
  8. New International Reader's Version
  9. New American Standard Bible
  10. The Message
 
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Salty

Salty

20,000 Posts Club
Administrator
I have heard in the past that KJ-O's love to boast that the KJV was the best seller.

Well, I guess that is no longer the case.
 
R

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Salty said:
...the KJV was the best seller.

Well, I guess that is no longer the case.
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I do not think the KJV has been the best seller in terms of total sales in quite some time. This archive capture from the CBA in 2012 shows the NIV as the bestseller (“in the United States through June 2, 2012”). An interesting aside from that is a 2014 study by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University which found that though the NIV is most purchased, the KJV is still most read.
When Americans reach for their Bibles, more than half of them pick up a King James Version (KJV), according to a new study advised by respected historian Mark Noll.

The 55 percent who read the KJV easily outnumber the 19 percent who read the New International Version (NIV). And the percentages drop into the single digits for competitors such as the New Revised Standard Version, New America Bible, and the Living Bible.
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JonC

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
Interesting. I thought the NIV would be #1, with the KJV in the top 3.

I was surprised the NASB was not present (and The Message was).
 
R

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
JonC said:
I was surprised the NASB was not present (and The Message was).
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I suspect there might be a good bit of variation in the 8-10 slots from month to month. Notice in July, The Message has dropped to 10, the Nueva Version International has dropped out of the top 10, and the NASB is in the number 9 slot.
 
Y

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
JonC said:
Interesting. I thought the NIV would be #1, with the KJV in the top 3.

I was surprised the NASB was not present (and The Message was).
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Will be interesting to see if the Lsb cracks top 10 when released full bible!
 
Rob_BW

Rob_BW

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
LSB will probably be a niche translation (like the EHV) but I reckon its fans will take a bite out of total NASB sales.

The NASB update has been on the radar for a while, so I'm sure it has depressed NASB sales. Which I would imagine will be picking up.
 
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R

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Rob_BW said:
I thought we were using ECPA tallies, are NDB Bookscan reports used in the monthly ECPA lists?
Click to expand...
According to this page, they are:
The ECPA Bestsellers Lists rank the bestselling books published by ECPA members from the previous month, as reported to NPD BookScan (formerly Nielsen Bookscan) by these reporting retailers.

NPD is purveyor of data, analytics, and consumer insights for the book business, as well as many other businesses such as consumer packaged goods, toys, fashion, digital gaming, and more around the world.
Click to expand...
 
Jerome

Jerome

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Wall Street Journal

"Nielsen BookScan...creates best-seller lists that are syndicated widely....'bulk sales are always flagged and pulled from BookScan's best-seller chart-making process', said Jonathan Stolper, general manager of Nielsen BookScan"
 
kathleenmariekg

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
I think study Bibles have a lot to do with this. Some people want the newest study Bible notes and publishers are increasingly publishing their study Bibles with their inhouse translation instead of the NASB and the NKJV.

I expect the NKJV to continue to dive down the rankings with the CSB grabbing the readers that didn't embrace the ESV.

I expect people to switch to the inhouse translation published by the largest publishing house that caters to their denomination.
 
Y

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
kathleenmariekg said:
I think study Bibles have a lot to do with this. Some people want the newest study Bible notes and publishers are increasingly publishing their study Bibles with their inhouse translation instead of the NASB and the NKJV.

I expect the NKJV to continue to dive down the rankings with the CSB grabbing the readers that didn't embrace the ESV.

I expect people to switch to the inhouse translation published by the largest publishing house that caters to their denomination.
Click to expand...
Really curious as to how the Lsb full bible does, as think many holding out for this, who did not like the 2020 revision!
 
C

Conan

Well-Known Member
What should be the ranking in order of accuracy. Just my opinion.

1. King James Version.
2. New King James Version.
3. New American Standard Version.
4. English Standard Version.
5. Christian Standard Bible.
6. New International Version.

I would think if the New American Standard Bible would have switched to The Greek Byzantine/Majority Text it would become the most accurate.
 
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