What is the PMI Pulse of the Profession?

Pulse of the Profession is an annual global survey conducted by the Project Management Institute. It samples around 3,000 to 4,000 project, programme and portfolio managers across industries and geographies, and reports on practices, outcomes, and trends. Editions have run annually since 2006.

Where does the 43% over budget figure come from?

Across Pulse editions, the share of projects exceeding their original budget has ranged from roughly 40% to 50%. The 43% figure is most commonly associated with the 2018-2020 editions. Pulse defines a project as 'over budget' if the actual cost at completion exceeded the originally approved budget, on a self-reported basis from project managers.

Is the Pulse of the Profession peer-reviewed?

No. It is an industry survey conducted by a professional body, not an academic study. The methodology is published, but the raw data is not openly released. For academic-quality citations on cost overruns, the Flyvbjerg Oxford megaproject database is the stronger choice for infrastructure, and the McKinsey-Oxford 2012 study is the stronger choice for large IT.

PMI Pulse of the Profession: The Source for "43% of Projects Over Budget"

If you are looking for the citation behind the often-quoted "43% of projects exceed their budget", this is the report. PMI Pulse of the Profession is the underlying industry survey.

43%

of projects exceed original budget

48%

do not meet original goals (2020 ed.)

3,000+

PMs surveyed per edition

2006

first annual edition

What Pulse measures and how

Pulse of the Profession surveys practising project managers, programme managers and PMO leaders across industries (IT, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, government) and across continents. The survey runs roughly annually. Recent samples cover around 3,000 to 4,000 respondents from over 40 countries.

The headline outcome metrics Pulse tracks are: percentage of projects completed on time, percentage on budget, percentage meeting original goals, percentage classified as failures, and percentage where the budget was lost on outright failed projects. PMI also tracks practice maturity (use of EVM, agile, hybrid, etc.) and links outcomes to maturity.

The over-budget figures across recent editions

Edition	% over budget	% on goals	% deemed failures
2015	43%	64%	15%
2018	43%	70%	12%
2020	~48%	73%	11%
2023	~45%	74%	10%

Figures are PMI-reported across the public Pulse PDFs. The 43% number is most accurately associated with the 2015 and 2018 editions; later editions show modest improvement.

How to cite

Project Management Institute (2018). Pulse of the Profession 2018: Success in Disruptive Times. PMI, Newtown Square PA.

Source URL: pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse

All Pulse PDFs are freely downloadable from PMI's thought-leadership library; registration may be required for some editions.

PMI Pulse of the Profession: The Source for "43% of Projects Over Budget"

What Pulse measures and how

The over-budget figures across recent editions

How to cite

Related references on this site