Have you looked at the PMI numbers?

What catches my attention most is the slow growth of PMI membership in contrast to the the number of PMP holders practically doubling. That's very interesting.

I'm not as excited about the PMI-ACP numbers. The ACP was relatively new in 2013, and PMI bragged at the time that it was the fastest growing certification, because the small numbers skewed the percentages. Along those lines, 30k ACP holders is a very significant jump, but only because 4k is such a small number. You can look at those numbers positively and say that the ACP has grown by over 600%, or you can be negative and ask why we still only have 30,000 ACPs.

Without being a SME on certifications, I'd guess that the ACP is just growing out of its infancy and getting to a quantity where people will start to recognize it. By contrast, Scrum.org has issued 100k certifications, and ScrumAlliance has issued more than 500k. Those certifications are different from the ACP, but we need the comparison for context.

I'm curious about PMI's other certifications. How many PfMPs, CAPMs, and RMPs do we have, for example?

I'm most excited about the fact that the PMP is nearly at 1 million. That's a very significant milestone and I hope PMI is prepared to celebrate!

Dear Wade
Thank you for sharing your reading of the numbers.
I can share with you some of these numbers
2013 Certifications:
- 24. 450 CAPM
- 995 PgMP
- 2,584 PMI-RPM

2019 Certifications:
- 39,524 CAPM
- 755 PfMP
- 2,709 PgMP
- 5,337 PMI-RPM

In your opinion, is there any reason why PMI has not grown significantly in membership?
For more PMP certified people than PMI members?
Compared to the growing worldwide demand for qualified Project Management professionals, do you think PMI will grow in membership? And in number of certified people?

Dear Rami
Thank you for sharing your reading of the numbers.
It's a fact.
Many people who are PMP are not PMI members
Why does this happen?
Do you think that from their perspective, being a PMI member doesn't add value?
The number of PMPs is growing at a slower pace than the PMI-ACP.
Do you think the acquisition of Flex and DA will increase the number of members?

Thanks for the numbers. Those are also interesting. CAPM have risen considerably, as well, but it makes sense that they're more modest than PMP numbers since many CAPM holders will eventually transition to PMP certifications. Also interesting that RPM has doubled, but is still very small.

Unsure on the PMP vs PMI numbers. To me, it only makes sense to maintain a membership with the organization that grants my certification. I'm sure the folks at PMI are studying this and may have more insight into how they could increase membership, but it's a mystery to me.

Are there any numbers identifying the amount of PM's who obtain their PMP certification but do not continue to maintain their certification?

Wade

If you are interested to keep track of the numbers of certified individuals per certification in the future, you can check the "PMI Today". All those numbers are published monthly via the "PMI Today" and all members have access to it.

https://www.pmitoday-digital.com/pmitoday/october_2019?pg=5#pg5

RK

I think the fact that the PMI membership grows slowly compared to the PMP holders shows that membership is not valued as much as the certification.

If I was PMI, I would reach out to these non-member PMP holders and ask what value would they like to see with their membership.