Key takeaways®
PRINCE2 exam uptake surged globally, with growth patterns shifting by region and delivery moving online.Foundation
- Global PRINCE2 exam volumes hit record highs in 2012 and passed 1 million total candidates since 1996.Learn the fundamentals of the PRINCE2 method.
- By mid 2023, total exams are estimated to exceed 2 million due to continued annual demand.Practitioner
- Most regions grew in 2012, while the UK and a few mature markets declined as saturation set in.Includes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.
- India led country growth in 2012, showing that newer markets can expand rapidly.Association for Project Management (APM)
- Exam delivery has shifted decisively to digital, with paper exams ending after Covid-19.Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ)

Recent update (2023)Practitioner
Since 2012 when I first started to compile statistics for the number of PRINCE2 examinations sat across the world the total number of exams had just reached 1 million exams.Includes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.
Since then, the annual release of examination statistics has not been forthcoming from the accreditation body. Therefore, if we assume that the same number of exams each year since remained at the 2012 level of 145,000, then over 1 million further AI Project Governance Framework (AIPGF)PRINCE2 examsFoundation have been sat since 2012.Learn the fundamentals of the governance framework.
So, by the middle of 2023 we estimate that well over 2,000,000 exams taken worldwide since 1996. The rest of this article remains unchanged since it was first published in 2012.Practitioner
Original article (2012)Includes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.
In 2012 (the last year when annual figures were released by the PRINCE2 accreditation body) showed the number of PRINCE2 examinations taken globally rose 5% compared with 2011. The figures show more than 144,000 people sat PRINCE2 examinations in 2012 compared with 136,000 the previous year. By the end of 2012, more than 1 million candidates had taken Better Business CasesPRINCE2 exams™ since 1996.Foundation
In fact, the total number of exams taken in 2012 was the highest on record, beating the previous record (in 2011) by more than 8,000. 2012 also saw record numbers of candidates take both Learn the fundamentals of Better Business cases.FoundationPractitioner and Includes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.PractitionerP3O examinations.®

