PMI Pulse of the Profession: The Source for "43% of Projects Over Budget"
The often-quoted "43% of projects exceed their budget" comes from PMI's Pulse of the Profession survey, but PMI states it the other way round: 57% of projects finished within their initial budgets. Here is what each edition we have read actually says, with links to the PDFs.
What Pulse measures and how
Pulse of the Profession surveys project management practitioners and leaders across industries and regions (North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America). PMI has run it since 2006. The 2017 edition drew on 3,234 professionals; the 2018 edition on 4,455 practitioners.
The question behind the budget figure reads: "In your estimation, what percentage of the projects completed within your organization in the past 12 months..." finished within their initial budgets, finished on time, met their original goals, experienced scope creep, or were deemed failures. PMI reports the mean of those estimates. They are practitioners' estimates, not audited cost records.
The over-budget figures across recent editions
| Edition | Finished within initial budget | Remainder (over budget) | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 57% | 43% | Pulse 2017, appendix, read 8 October 2026 |
| 2018 | 57% | 43% | Pulse 2018, appendix (report p. 25), read 8 October 2026 |
| 2019 | 57% | 43% | Pulse 2021, Figure 2, read 8 October 2026 |
| 2020 | 59% | 41% | Pulse 2021, Figure 2, read 8 October 2026 |
| 2021 | 62% | 38% | Pulse 2021, Figure 2, read 8 October 2026 |
The "remainder" column is our arithmetic (100% minus the published figure). The same 2018 report also gives 52% for scope creep, 69% for projects meeting original goals, 15% deemed failures, and 32% of budget lost when a project fails. One trap: the figure 43% also appears in the 2018 report's Figure 1, where it is the share of projects completed within budget at low-maturity organisations (against 67% at high-maturity ones). That is a different number from the remainder above.
How to cite
Document: Pulse of the Profession 2018 (PDF, pmi.org), read 8 October 2026
The 2017, 2018 and 2021 PDFs linked on this page were free to download from pmi.org when we read them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the PMI Pulse of the Profession?
Pulse of the Profession is PMI's global survey of project management practitioners, conducted since 2006. The 2017 edition drew on 3,234 professionals and the 2018 edition on 4,455 practitioners. Respondents estimate outcomes for the projects their organisation completed in the previous 12 months, and PMI reports the mean of those estimates.
Where does the 43% over budget figure come from?
PMI does not state 43% as such. Its 2018 report (appendix, global total) says that 57% of projects completed in the previous 12 months finished within their initial budgets; 43% is the remainder. The 2017 edition reports the same 57%. Later editions report 59% (2020) and 62% (2021) completed within original budget. The figures are means of respondents' estimates, not audited project records.
Is the Pulse of the Profession peer-reviewed?
No. It is an industry survey conducted by a professional body, not an academic study, and the raw data is not released. For academic-quality citations on cost overruns, Flyvbjerg, Holm and Buhl (2002) is the stronger choice for transport infrastructure, and the McKinsey-Oxford 2012 study for large IT.