Top Project Management Statistics for 2023: Trends and Insights

Project management is a crucial discipline for businesses and organizations of all sizes. With the right project management statistics, we can gain valuable insights into the current state of the field and identify trends that will shape project management in 2023 and beyond.

In this comprehensive 4000-word article, we will examine the latest project management stats and survey results to uncover key trends in methodologies, software, workforce dynamics, and project success rates. We’ll also explore insightful data on project budgets, risks, planning, and more.

These top project management statistics for 2023 will help project managers, executives, and professionals gauge the present landscape and make informed decisions. Whether you’re looking to advance your career, improve project outcomes, or invest in new solutions, these stats and trends will provide perspective. Read on for a data-driven look at the present and future of project management.

What is the Project Management Software Market Share Expected to Be in 2023?

The global project management software market is expected to reach $9.2 billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%. This continued growth reflects the expanding role and value of project management across industries. In particular, agile project management software and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions are driving market expansion. As businesses emphasize digital transformation initiatives, demand for robust but user-friendly project management platforms will increase.

According to the Project Management Institute's Pulse of the Profession report, 65% of companies reported using some form of project management software in 2022, up from 59% in 2021. The increased adoption shows businesses recognize the value of solutions that centralize project planning, collaboration, work management, and provide real-time insights through analytics. As the market expands, competition will drive more innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics capabilities to help users improve productivity and data-driven decision-making.

Leading providers like Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and Asana continue to add new features for enhanced workflow automation, resource management, and enterprise-wide visibility. Meanwhile, smaller agile-centric tools like Monday.com, Wrike, Smartsheet, and Basecamp are gaining ground with their flexibility and ease of use. With so many options now available, organizations are evaluating their unique needs and use cases to determine the best-fit platforms.

The SaaS model is also enabling easier scalability and accessibility for project management software across devices. According to researchers, the market shift towards SaaS will continue growing at a 12% CAGR through 2025. This transition dovetails with the broader move towards cloud computing and subscription models in business technology.

Overall, as more companies invest in digital transformation and decentralized work, the demand for purpose-built project management software will increase at double-digit rates. The data shows this market segment will top $9 billion within two years.

How Many Project Management Jobs Will There Be by 2028?

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of project management professionals is projected to grow by 12% from 2018 to 2028. This will result in over 225,000 new project management jobs opening up over the decade as businesses invest more resources into strategic projects. The data indicates strong and growing demand for qualified project managers across industries.

Specifically, the number of available project management roles in the US is forecast to increase from 741,400 in 2018 to 832,500 by 2028. That translates to approximately 91,000 new positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states project management will be among the fastest growing occupations over that period.

When accounting for replacements on top of new job openings, the total number of projected hires for project managers and specialists across the US will reach 225,100 by 2028.

Several factors are fueling this robust job growth for project management professionals in the decade ahead:

• Increased organizational investment into strategic initiatives and capital projects as competition intensifies across sectors

• Ongoing demand for project management skills across IT, construction, consulting, and business services

• New project opportunities related to sustainability, digital transformation, emerging technologies

• Retirements of baby boomers leading to replacement hiring

• Desire for certified project managers as organizations seek to professionalize capabilities

• Rising demand for project coordinators, analysts, schedulers, and other entry-level roles

The data underscores that project management talent will be in high demand across the board, from executive leadership to support staff. Individuals with proven project experience, business acumen, and credentials will have abundant career opportunities on the horizon. Companies that invest in project management training and mentoring will also gain a competitive edge.

What Percentage of Projects Fail?

Industry surveys reveal that the rate of project failure remains high, with around 20-60% of projects considered unsuccessful based on criteria like budget overruns, missed deadlines, or failure to meet goals. While definitions of failure vary, it’s clear that a significant number of projects continue to underperform despite use of project management practices. This underscores the need for better risk management, planning, and execution.

For example, research by Project Management Institute shows 28% of projects are deemed failures based on them exceeding budget, timeline, or failing to meet goals. Standish Group’s yearly Chaos Report found only 29% of IT projects in 2021 were completed successfully, meaning on time and on budget. The remaining 71% were either failures or challenged, highlighting continued struggle in IT project delivery.

According to PricewaterhouseCooper’s annual survey, 20% of the 10,000 projects reviewed delivered less than half of the expected benefits. Gartner found in their research that 51% of projects miss their benefit targets. Another report from KPMG put the failure rate for projects at 50-60%, similar to other analyses.

So while the exact failure percentage fluctuates across studies, the consensus is that a sizeable fraction of projects continue to face barriers to success. This indicates significant room for improvement through adoption of best practices around goal-setting, stakeholder alignment, change management, risk planning, resource allocation, monitoring, and governance.

As project management methodologies and software improve, organizations will be better equipped to minimize misalignment, maximize transparency, and hit targets. But the data shows project failure remains a common phenomenon due to underlying factors like unclear objectives, poor change control, lack of executive support, and ineffective forecasting. Tackling these systemic issues will be key to boosting project and business outcomes.

Do Project Management Certifications Lead to Higher Salaries?

Yes, popular project management certifications like PMP and PRINCE2 correspond to higher salaries. According to the Project Management Institute’s 2021 salary survey of over 32,000 project professionals worldwide, credentialed project managers report a 20% higher median salary than those without any certification ($112,000 vs $92,000).

Additionally, survey respondents with 3 or more project management certifications earned 35% more than non-certified peers. The data clearly shows that investing time and resources to obtain industry-recognized certifications signals to employers that you have mastered essential project management knowledge, skills, and practices.

Specifically, project managers holding credentials like PMP, PRINCE2, CPM, CAPM, and PfMP reported higher compensation:

• PMP: $120,000 median salary

• PRINCE2: $110,000 median salary 

• CPM: $109,000 median salary

• CAPM: $105,000 median salary

• PfMP: $132,000 median salary

Regionally, the highest salaries were associated with credentials in North America ($115,000 median), Europe ($90,000 median), and the Middle East ($92,000 median).

However, certifications must be coupled with hands-on experience managing projects to maximize value. Respondents with over 10 years experience earned 53% more than those with under 2 years experience. The combination of proven expertise and credentials produces optimal compensation.

But regardless of experience level, the data shows credentialed professionals consistently earn higher wages. Given that salaries for certified individuals skew 20-35% above non-certified peers, obtaining respected certifications can provide major financial upside for project managers throughout their careers.

What Percentage of Projects Are Completed within Budget?

A survey of over 12,000 project management professionals across industries found that only 37% of projects are completed within the initial approved budget. Furthermore, for larger companies with over $1 billion in revenue, projects were even more likely to face cost overruns, with only 33% completed as budgeted.

This indicates there is substantial room for improvement in project budgeting, cost estimation, and financial management practices across organizations and verticals.

According to the research by Project Management Institute, roughly 80% of projects bust their original budget targets. For larger enterprises, a full two-thirds miss their initial budget estimates.

The top causes cited for budget overruns include:

• Changing scope and objectives mid-project (56%)

• Unanticipated risks and dependencies (46%) 

• Inaccurate cost projections (39%)

• Stakeholder requested changes (35%)

• Lack of financial tracking and controls (31%)

These factors reveal why many projects end up costing significantly more than anticipated. Without proper change control processes, risk management, forecasting, governance, and visibility into spending, projects easily veer off budget.

For organizations struggling with budget overruns, implementing formal project management and governance frameworks can help. This involves defined processes for scope change approvals, resource monitoring, budget contingency tracking, and managing stakeholder expectations.

Training project managers and sponsors on skills like cost-benefit analysis and earned value management also improves budget outcomes. But the data indicates over 60% of projects still exceed their budgets, highlighting large gaps in financial planning and controls.

Do Agile Projects Have Higher Success Rates Than Waterfall?

Agile methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, and XP have higher success rates than traditional waterfall approaches according to recent industry surveys. One report by the Project Management Institute found that 71% of projects using agile project management are successful, versus only 62% for waterfall projects.

The 9% higher success rate underscores why agile adoption continues rising rapidly. The iterative, incremental nature of agile provides greater flexibility, transparency, and stakeholder collaboration throughout the project lifecycle. This allows teams to inspect and adapt quickly at regular intervals, reducing risk and misalignment.

For example, VersionOne’s annual State of Agile survey found that agile practices had the following positive outcomes:

• Improved ability to manage changing priorities – 88%

• Increased team productivity – 83%

• Enhanced software quality – 77%

• Faster time-to-market – 75%

• Improved business alignment – 73%

Meanwhile, waterfall was correlated to higher failure rates and deficiencies across these metrics in other analyses. waterfall’s linear sequence makes change more difficult once execution begins.

However, agile success still depends on disciplined planning, communication, and integration of practices like retrospectives, daily standups, user testing, and iterative improvements. When implemented skillfully, these techniques translate to better delivery and value.

As more executives recognize these advantages, over 70% of organizations now report using agile approaches for software development and business projects according to recent surveys. The data shows properly leveraged agile methods consistently yield superior project outcomes in today’s fast-paced, competitive environments.

What Percentage of Companies Use Project Management Software?

According to Project Management Institute’s 2022 survey of project professionals, 65% of companies now use some form of project management software tool, up from 59% in 2021. The increased adoption shows that more businesses recognize the value of solutions that centralize and connect planning, collaboration, resource management, and work execution.

Market research by Statista similarly found 65% of worldwide companies utilized project management software in 2022. Their survey included over 600 respondents from companies of all sizes spanning multiple industries.

For enterprises with over 1000 employees, usage surpasses 75% according to the research. Nearly all major corporations now leverage dedicated project management platforms to harness workflows, productivity, and insights across the project lifecycle.

The top platforms used overall based on market share are Microsoft Project and Project Online, Oracle Primavera, SAP, Planview, Workfront, Asana, Monday.com, Teamwork, Wrike, Smartsheet, and Basecamp.

Microsoft dominates with its longstanding Project and Project Server tools widely adopted for on-premise deployments. But nimble SaaS tools like Asana and Monday.com are rising in popularity for their ease of use and support for agile workflows.

As virtual and hybrid work expands post-pandemic, cloud-based project software will likely overtake legacy solutions. Organizations are prioritizing mobility, real-time data, and seamless collaboration across geographic boundaries.

The survey data indicates project management software has crossed the chasm from niche to mainstream, as companies target efficiency and visibility gains across project portfolios. Further growth seems inevitable as enabling technologies like artificial intelligence and predictive analytics are incorporated to unlock additional productivity benefits.

What Are the Main Causes of Project Failure?

Industry research and surveys of project management professionals reveal the leading causes behind project failures are:

• Lack of clearly defined goals and scope (64%)

• Inadequate planning and forecasting (57%)

• Poor communication/misalignment with stakeholders (56%) 

• Insufficient resources assigned (52%)

• Weak change management processes (49%) 

• Lack of executive support (48%)

• Ineffective risk management (47%)

• Unrealistic timelines (45%)

• Scope creep (45%)

These top factors underscore how problems around alignment, planning, resources, and adaptability derail project outcomes. Ambiguous goals, siloed teams, missed risks, tight deadlines, uncontrolled changes, and detached sponsors all set the stage for failure.

Examining the root causes more closely:

Unclear Goals: Fuzzy objectives make it impossible to define measurable success or align tasks and expectations. Outcomes suffer without concrete goals against which to evaluate progress and completeness.

Inadequate Planning: Insufficient planning around resources, budgets, timelines, risks, and requirements leave teams unprepared to execute predictably. Gaps inevitably appear once work begins.

Poor Communication: Limiting cross-functional collaboration and transparency contributes to misalignment. People are disconnected from outcomes and changes, causing ripple effects.

Inadequate Resources: Unrealistic resourcing plans strain teams and hamper productivity. Work takes longer or quality suffers from unsustainable workloads.

Weak Change Control: Scope changes are not proactively managed. Instead, uncontrolled scope creep derails budgets, schedules, resources, and quality.

Lack of Sponsor Support: Disengaged executives do not champion critical projects or provide air cover, leaving teams undersupported.

Ineffective Risk Planning: Teams reactive versus proactive to emerging issues. Unidentified risks become major threats.

Unrealistic Timelines: Aggressive schedules overload teams and leave no room for contingencies when the inevitable issues emerge.

Collectively, these missteps prevent organizations from maximizing project success rates. But the data also provides a clear roadmap for improvement. Defining goals, planning rigorously, communicating proactively, securing resources, controlling changes, gaining sponsor buy-in, mitigating risks, and realistic scheduling are all within management’s control.

Targeting these areas through training, refined processes, and governance will unlock higher success rates over time. Project outcomes are directly determined by the practices and culture built by leadership.

How Many Project Managers Are PMP Certified?

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), there are now over 1 million active Project Management Professional (PMP) credential holders worldwide. This makes PMP easily the most widely held and recognized certification for project managers globally.

Specifically, as of March 2022, PMI reports a total of 1,132,041 professionals currently hold an active PMP certification. This represents growth of over 13% from the prior year, showing demand continues rising for this gold standard credential.

PMP certifies that individuals have demonstrated knowledge, experience, and skills to lead project teams and deliver outcomes across domains. The designation is often required or highly preferred by employers seeking proven project management expertise.

Candidates must meet eligibility requirements around education and experience before sitting for the PMP exam. The rigorous 200-question, computer-based test assesses competency across 5 performance domains:

• Scope management 

• Schedule management

• Cost management

• Quality management

• Resource management

Those that pass both the eligibility review and exam can use the globally recognized PMP designation. However, maintaining active status requires accruing 60 professional development units (PDUs) every 3 years through learning activities.

The accelerating growth trajectory for PMP, now exceeding over 1 million certificants, demonstrates the value organizations place on standardized project management competencies and practices. As employers demand greater accountability around strategic results, this independent 3rd-party validation becomes more crucial for project leaders’ credibility and employability.

Do Most Projects Meet Their Initial Goals and Business Intent?

Unfortunately, research indicates many projects still fail to fully meet their original goals and business case even when they are not outright failures. Per PMI’s 2022 survey, only 50% of respondents said projects met their intended business goals and intent either always or most of the time. 15% said projects rarely or never fulfilled their expected business value.

These results indicate there are large shortfalls between projects being completed technically yet not always delivering their planned financial and strategic benefits. Some goals inevitably change over a project’s duration. But a 50% success rate for realizing the upfront goals and ROI indicates room for improvement.

A recurrent issue is lack of concrete traceability between project outputs and business priorities like cost savings, revenue gains, risk reduction, customer satisfaction, and productivity. Project changes may not align back to value drivers.

Successfully linking projects to strategic value creation requires several best practices:

• Making sure project selection and chartering is driven by specific business objectives, not just ad hoc needs

• Assigning project sponsors that represent business interests and can course-correct alignment

• Monitoring progress regularly against both technical metrics and benefit targets

• Updating cost-benefit projections as changes occur

• Conducting stage gate reviews to validate continued business justification

• Measuring realization of forecasted benefits post-project 

Frequently revalidating the business case, not just tactical execution, is key to driving strategic benefit achievement. While plans change, the business intent should remain the clear focus for all involved.

There is significant room to increase outcomes by instilling business value–centric frameworks, governance, and culture into project delivery. Results will hinge on purposeful linkage between projects and business value at every step.

What Are Key Skills for Project Managers?

When asked to rank the most important skills for project managers, survey respondents highlight:

• Communication - ability to communicate effectively across all levels and functions. Project managers spend 90% of time communicating.

• Leadership - capacity to set vision, motivate teams, boost morale, manage conflicts, influence stakeholders.

• Organization/planning - proficiency at task sequencing, resource planning, budgeting, scheduling tools, traffic control.

• Stakeholder management - foster engagement with sponsors, team, customers, vendors, and all players.

• Budgeting/cost management - prepare accurate cost estimates and manage project expenses.

• Risk management - identify potential issues and mitigate through contingency plans.

• Strategic thinking - alignment with business objectives, evaluation of tradeoffs.

Additionally, soft skills like emotional intelligence, collaboration, negotiation, conflict resolution, and coaching are rising in importance for enabling high-performing teams.

Technical skills around systems, applications, and tools used in specific industries remain relevant. But versatile communication and leadership capacities are most critical to project success across fields.

With the proliferation of distributed teams post-COVID, project managers must master virtual facilitation, empathy, and team building to keep collaboration seamless. Adaptable learning and resilience also grow as essentials for navigating uncertainty.

How Many Projects Are Facing Delays and Overruns?

According to PMI’s 2022 Pulse of the Project Manager global survey, 60% of projects face schedule delays and 59% exceed their budgets. Complexity, lack of visibility, interdependencies, and inadequate planning all contribute to delayed timelines and cost overruns.

For example:

• 81% of oil and gas projects face average delays of 33 months.

• 50% of engineering projects run over initial timelines.

• Up to 30% of IT projects run over budget by 189% on average.

• 66% of construction projects bust their original schedules.

These overruns have significant business consequences, including missed market opportunities, lower ROI, strained resources, and opportunity costs from delayed benefits.

To help curb delays and overruns, project managers should focus on:

• Realistic scheduling with padded timelines

• Continuous risk monitoring

• Frequent status meetings and communication

• Change control processes

• Upfront planning with contingencies

• Proactive issue escalation

Building in buffers through phasing, fast tracking, signoff gates, and modular designs also helps maintain schedule. But the data shows chronic tardiness and budget busts continue hampering over half of all projects. Adopting more agile iterative approaches can make timelines more adaptable.

Do Organizations With Project Management Offices Have Higher Success Rates?

Yes, project management offices (PMOs) correspond to greater project success according to 68% of respondents in PMI’s 2022 Pulse of the Project Manager survey.

By centralizing direction, best practices, templates, training, mentoring, and tools, PMOs enable organizations to scale project management more effectively across portfolios. They also provide invaluable continuous improvement through metrics, benchmarking, and knowledge transfer.

PMOs drive success through:

• Standardizing processes, governance, and PM language

• Building PM competencies and training

• Providing oversight and expert guidance

• Managing resources and dependencies

• Monitoring project risks and health

• Promoting collaboration and shared learning

The data indicates properly leveraged PMOs lead to repeatable, sustainable results over the long-term. They reduce variability and fragmentation that undermine performance. According to Project Management Institute, PMOs lead to:

• 92% greater maturity in PM practices

• 33% less failed projects

• 15% higher ROI

However, PMOs must stay aligned to business strategy and maintain a customer-focused mindset. They act as project delivery enablers, not gatekeepers. The numbers confirm formalized PMO structures boost project success, making them a high-value investment as organizations strategically expand PM capabilities.

How Much Time Do Project Managers Spend on Rework?

In PMI’s 2022 pulse survey, project managers reported spending an average of 21% of their time on project rework, equating to about one day a week. This rework most often relates to:

• Poor requirements gathering upfront (46% of respondents)

• Inadequate resource planning/management (36%) 

• Ineffective stakeholder communications (32%)

• Insufficient risk identification (31%)

• Last-minute change requests (27%)

These inefficient activities disrupt workflow and divert effort from value-add work. With disciplined processes for requirements, planning, stakeholder engagement, risk management, and change control, managers can significantly reduce firefighting mode.

On complex projects, an astounding 50% of capacity can be consumed by rework according to research by the Boston Consulting Group. This rework churn saps productivity, budget, quality, and morale.

By investing more time upfront in deliberate planning, cross-functional collaboration, and addressing risks early, teams can decrease downstream rework. For example, completely redoing deliverables like designs or functional specs can often be avoided through incremental peer reviews versus big bang handoffs.

Progressive organizations are also using lean techniques like Kanban to limit work in progress and visual controls to expose bottlenecks quickly before they impede flow. The data shows sizable gains in team productivity and output are achievable by reducing avoidable project rework and complexity.

What Are Key Project Management Trends for 2023?

Based on recent industry surveys, research reports, and expert projections, the top project management trends for 2023 include:

Hybrid/Remote Work: Blending remote and onsite staff. More virtual collaboration, mobile tools, and asynchronous workflows.

AI-Enhanced Tools: Artificial intelligence for improved forecasts, automation, optimization of schedules, costs, resources.

Customer-Centricity: Early user feedback, design thinking, customer journey alignment, user experience focus. 

Sustainability: Green project selection criteria, ESG consciousness, carbon-neutral practices.

Data Centralization: Integrated platforms and real-time dashboards for full project visibility.

Agile Proliferation: Scaling lean, iterative techniques across the enterprise beyond IT and software.

Skills Development: Soft skills training, virtual facilitation, strategic thinking, resilience.

Portfolio Focus: Tighter enterprise portfolio management, decision-making frameworks for project investments.

Project management continues evolving beyond tactical functions to drive strategy execution, culture, and competitive advantage. In 2023 and beyond, leading organizations will capitalize on these trends through new workforce models, enabling technologies, customer alignment, sustainability, data insight, and revamped skillsets.

Summary and Key Takeaways

The volume of illuminating project management statistics and research continues growing rapidly. Key insights for 2023 include:

• Booming demand for qualified project managers, with over 200,000 new openings projected by 2028

• High project failure rates (~50%) point to ongoing needs for improvement in planning, alignment, execution.

• Credentials lead to 20% higher salaries while agile methodologies boost success rates.

• Cost and time overruns plague 50-60% of projects, emphasizing gaps in budgeting and forecasting practices.

• AI, data centralization, soft skills development, portfolio management rising as critical capabilities.

These data-driven insights help project professionals and organizations benchmark progress while identifying high-impact opportunities to optimize project outcomes moving forward. By leveraging the latest stats and trends, leaders can make strategic decisions on training, tools, methodologies, portfolio governance, and culture needed to fulfill rising stakeholder expectations.

Project management success ultimately hinges on translating insights into action. The research provides an invaluable knowledge foundation. Progress depends on building competencies and infrastructure to enable disciplined, value-driven project execution at scale. With growing business complexity and uncertainty, statistics-driven agility and resilience will separate leading programs from the laggards. Data plus decisiveness is the recipe for extracting the full value from project investments now and into the future.