{ "name": "Succession Planning Statistics: Sourced & Verified", "url": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics", "compiledBy": "Ryan Grant", "publisher": "SuccessionStack", "verified": "2026-07-04", "updated": "2026-07-04", "nextReview": "2027-07-04", "license": "Free to quote with attribution. Cite the original source linked on each figure where you can; cite this compilation if it saved you the digging.", "themes": [ { "id": "ceo-transitions", "heading": "CEO succession and transitions", "stats": [ { "id": "estimated-market-value-destroyed-annually-by-poorly-managed-", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#estimated-market-value-destroyed-annually-by-poorly-managed-", "figure": "~$1T / year", "claim": "Estimated market value destroyed annually by poorly managed CEO and C-suite transitions in the S&P 1500.", "source": "Harvard Business Review, “The High Cost of Poor Succession Planning” (Fernández-Aráoz, Nagel, Green)", "year": "2021", "sourceUrl": "https://hbr.org/2021/05/the-high-cost-of-poor-succession-planning" }, { "id": "how-much-higher-company-valuations-and-investor-returns-coul", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#how-much-higher-company-valuations-and-investor-returns-coul", "figure": "20–25%", "claim": "How much higher company valuations and investor returns could run with better succession planning, per the same analysis.", "source": "Harvard Business Review, same article", "year": "2021", "sourceUrl": "https://hbr.org/2021/05/the-high-cost-of-poor-succession-planning" }, { "id": "share-of-external-ceo-hires-that-would-have-outperformed-a-c", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-external-ceo-hires-that-would-have-outperformed-a-c", "figure": "39%", "claim": "Share of external CEO hires that would have outperformed a comparable internal promotion, in a model of 17 years of outside-CEO hiring at US public companies.", "source": "Harvard Business Review, same article", "year": "2021", "sourceUrl": "https://hbr.org/2021/05/the-high-cost-of-poor-succession-planning" }, { "id": "ceo-departures-across-13-major-global-stock-indices-in-2024-", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#ceo-departures-across-13-major-global-stock-indices-in-2024-", "figure": "202", "claim": "CEO departures across 13 major global stock indices in 2024, an all-time record; a record 43 of them had been in the role under three years.", "source": "Russell Reynolds Associates, Global CEO Turnover Index", "year": "2024 data", "sourceUrl": "https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/about/newsroom/record-number-of-ceos-left-their-roles-in-2024" }, { "id": "share-of-2024s-record-ceo-departures-that-were-part-of-a-pla", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-2024s-record-ceo-departures-that-were-part-of-a-pla", "figure": "22%", "claim": "Share of 2024's record CEO departures that were part of a planned succession process. Internal promotions of incoming CEOs simultaneously hit an all-time high of 73%.", "source": "Russell Reynolds Associates, Global CEO Turnover Index", "year": "2024 data", "sourceUrl": "https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/about/newsroom/record-number-of-ceos-left-their-roles-in-2024" }, { "id": "ceo-transitions-at-s-p-1500-companies-in-2024-up-from-136-th", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#ceo-transitions-at-s-p-1500-companies-in-2024-up-from-136-th", "figure": "147", "claim": "CEO transitions at S&P 1500 companies in 2024, up from 136 the year before. 44% of new appointments were external hires, the highest share since tracking began in 2000.", "source": "Spencer Stuart, 2024 CEO Transitions", "year": "2024 data", "sourceUrl": "https://www.spencerstuart.com/-/media/2025/02/ceo-transitions/2024-ceo-transitions.pdf" }, { "id": "average-tenure-of-departing-s-p-1500-ceos-in-2024-down-from-", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#average-tenure-of-departing-s-p-1500-ceos-in-2024-down-from-", "figure": "9.2 years", "claim": "Average tenure of departing S&P 1500 CEOs in 2024, down from 10.3 in 2021. Among departing S&P 500 CEOs, tenure fell from 11.2 to 8.3 years over the same period.", "source": "Spencer Stuart, 2024 CEO Transitions", "year": "2024 data", "sourceUrl": "https://www.spencerstuart.com/-/media/2025/02/ceo-transitions/2024-ceo-transitions.pdf" }, { "id": "s-p-500-ceo-succession-rate-in-2025-through-october-up-from-", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#s-p-500-ceo-succession-rate-in-2025-through-october-up-from-", "figure": "13%", "claim": "S&P 500 CEO succession rate in 2025 (through October), up from 10% in 2024, with external hires nearly doubling from 18% to 33% of appointments.", "source": "The Conference Board (with Egon Zehnder, ESGAUGE, Semler Brossy), CEO Succession Practices", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.conference-board.org/press/ceo-succession-2025" }, { "id": "how-much-likelier-externally-recruited-ceos-are-to-leave-wit", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#how-much-likelier-externally-recruited-ceos-are-to-leave-wit", "figure": "84%", "claim": "How much likelier externally recruited CEOs are to leave within their first three years compared with internally promoted ones.", "source": "Allgood & Farrell, as reported in the HBR analysis above", "year": "2021", "sourceUrl": "https://hbr.org/2021/05/the-high-cost-of-poor-succession-planning" } ] }, { "id": "bench-readiness", "heading": "Leadership bench and readiness", "stats": [ { "id": "share-of-hr-leaders-who-say-their-organization-has-leaders-r", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-hr-leaders-who-say-their-organization-has-leaders-r", "figure": "20%", "claim": "Share of HR leaders who say their organization has leaders ready now to fill critical roles. The other 80% lack confidence in their bench.", "source": "DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025 (10,796 leaders, 2,014 organizations)", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ddi.com/blog/succession-planning-best-practices" }, { "id": "share-of-critical-positions-that-internal-candidates-could-f", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-critical-positions-that-internal-candidates-could-f", "figure": "49%", "claim": "Share of critical positions that internal candidates could fill immediately, even though 75% of organizations say they prefer promoting from within.", "source": "DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ddi.com/blog/succession-planning-best-practices" }, { "id": "how-much-likelier-organizations-with-strong-leadership-bench", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#how-much-likelier-organizations-with-strong-leadership-bench", "figure": "2.8×", "claim": "How much likelier organizations with strong leadership benches are to outperform financially. They are also 2.9× likelier to fill leadership roles internally.", "source": "DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ddi.com/blog/succession-planning-best-practices" }, { "id": "share-of-companies-confident-in-their-leadership-bench-in-20", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-companies-confident-in-their-leadership-bench-in-20", "figure": "12%", "claim": "Share of companies confident in their leadership bench in 2023, alongside the largest drop in leadership-quality ratings DDI had measured in a decade.", "source": "DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2023 (~14,000 leaders, 1,500+ organizations)", "year": "2023", "sourceUrl": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ddi-study-reveals-largest-drop-in-leadership-confidence-in-a-decade-301741272.html" }, { "id": "how-much-likelier-promotions-are-to-succeed-when-objective-a", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#how-much-likelier-promotions-are-to-succeed-when-objective-a", "figure": "1.6×", "claim": "How much likelier promotions are to succeed when objective assessment informs the selection decision.", "source": "DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ddi.com/blog/succession-planning-best-practices" } ] }, { "id": "adoption", "heading": "Who actually has a plan", "stats": [ { "id": "share-of-organizations-with-a-formal-succession-plan-another", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-organizations-with-a-formal-succession-plan-another", "figure": "21%", "claim": "Share of organizations with a formal succession plan. Another 24% run an informal one; 56% have no plan at all.", "source": "SHRM survey of HR professionals", "year": "2021", "sourceUrl": "https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/organizational-employee-development/succession-planning--set-your-organization-up-for-success" }, { "id": "share-of-board-directors-who-say-a-written-succession-plan-e", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-board-directors-who-say-a-written-succession-plan-e", "figure": "51%", "claim": "Share of board directors who say a written succession plan exists for their current CEO.", "source": "Gartner, 2023 Board of Directors Talent Survey (200 directors; reported by SHRM)", "year": "2023", "sourceUrl": "https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/organizational-employee-development/succession-planning-is-back-in-the-spotlight" }, { "id": "share-of-nonprofit-organizations-with-a-written-executive-su", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-nonprofit-organizations-with-a-written-executive-su", "figure": "27%", "claim": "Share of nonprofit organizations with a written executive succession plan.", "source": "BoardSource, Leading with Intent", "year": "2017", "sourceUrl": "https://leadingwithintent.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/LWI-2017.pdf" } ] }, { "id": "internal-external", "heading": "Internal promotion vs external hiring", "stats": [ { "id": "pay-premium-commanded-by-external-hires-over-internal-people", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#pay-premium-commanded-by-external-hires-over-internal-people", "figure": "18–20%", "claim": "Pay premium commanded by external hires over internal people moved into the same jobs, while receiving worse performance evaluations for their first two years and exiting at higher rates.", "source": "Matthew Bidwell (Wharton), “Paying More to Get Less,” Administrative Science Quarterly", "year": "2011", "sourceUrl": "https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-external-hires-get-paid-more-and-perform-worse-than-internal-staff/" }, { "id": "average-pay-premium-for-externally-hired-ceos-over-internall", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#average-pay-premium-for-externally-hired-ceos-over-internall", "figure": "15%", "claim": "Average pay premium for externally hired CEOs over internally promoted ones.", "source": "Custódio, Ferreira & Matos, as reported in the HBR analysis above", "year": "2021", "sourceUrl": "https://hbr.org/2021/05/the-high-cost-of-poor-succession-planning" }, { "id": "how-much-likelier-high-potential-employees-are-to-leave-with", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#how-much-likelier-high-potential-employees-are-to-leave-with", "figure": "3.7×", "claim": "How much likelier high-potential employees are to leave within a year when their managers don't provide regular growth and development opportunities.", "source": "DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ddi.com/about/media/global-leadership-forecast-2025" } ] }, { "id": "costs", "heading": "What vacancies and turnover cost", "stats": [ { "id": "estimated-cost-of-replacing-a-single-employee-across-the-us-", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#estimated-cost-of-replacing-a-single-employee-across-the-us-", "figure": "0.5–2× salary", "claim": "Estimated cost of replacing a single employee. Across the US economy, voluntary turnover costs businesses roughly $1 trillion a year.", "source": "Gallup", "year": "2019", "sourceUrl": "https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx" }, { "id": "median-cost-of-replacing-a-typical-worker-across-30-publishe", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#median-cost-of-replacing-a-typical-worker-across-30-publishe", "figure": "21% of salary", "claim": "Median cost of replacing a typical worker across 30 published case studies, with executive and other highly paid roles running as high as roughly 213% of salary.", "source": "Center for American Progress (Boushey & Glynn)", "year": "2012", "sourceUrl": "https://www.americanprogress.org/article/there-are-significant-business-costs-to-replacing-employees/" }, { "id": "average-cost-of-hiring-an-executive-versus-5-475-for-a-non-e", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#average-cost-of-hiring-an-executive-versus-5-475-for-a-non-e", "figure": "$35,879", "claim": "Average cost of hiring an executive, versus $5,475 for a non-executive hire: nearly seven times as much.", "source": "SHRM, 2025 Talent Acquisition Benchmarking (2,371 organizations)", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.shrm.org/about/press-room/shrm-releases-2025-benchmarking-reports--how-does-your-organizat" } ] }, { "id": "governance", "heading": "Boards and governance", "stats": [ { "id": "share-of-public-company-directors-who-say-their-board-has-no", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-public-company-directors-who-say-their-board-has-no", "figure": "30%", "claim": "Share of public-company directors who say their board has no CEO successor identified. Another 10% don't know; 58% call maintaining an internal pipeline the hardest part of CEO succession.", "source": "NACD, 2024 Public Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey", "year": "2024", "sourceUrl": "https://www.nacdonline.org/all-governance/governance-resources/governance-surveys/surveys-benchmarking/2024-public-company-board-practices-and-oversight-survey/" }, { "id": "average-time-boards-spent-on-ceo-succession-planning-in-a-ca", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#average-time-boards-spent-on-ceo-succession-planning-in-a-ca", "figure": "2 hrs / year", "claim": "Average time boards spent on CEO succession planning in a canonical survey of 140+ CEOs and directors; 39% reported zero viable internal candidates.", "source": "Stanford GSB Rock Center & Heidrick & Struggles, CEO Succession Planning Survey", "year": "2010", "sourceUrl": "https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/2010-ceo-succession-planning-survey" } ] }, { "id": "family-business", "heading": "Family business succession", "stats": [ { "id": "long-cited-survival-rates-for-family-businesses-transitionin", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#long-cited-survival-rates-for-family-businesses-transitionin", "figure": "~30% → 12% → 3%", "claim": "Long-cited survival rates for family businesses transitioning to the second, third, and fourth generations. Industry statistics republished for years rather than a recent survey; the chain of attribution runs through the Conway Center for Family Business.", "source": "Conway Center for Family Business (attributing Family Business Alliance)", "year": "long-standing", "sourceUrl": "https://www.familybusinesscenter.com/resources/family-business-facts/" } ] }, { "id": "industry", "heading": "Industry-specific pressure", "stats": [ { "id": "us-hospital-ceo-turnover-in-2022-the-third-consecutive-year-", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#us-hospital-ceo-turnover-in-2022-the-third-consecutive-year-", "figure": "16%", "claim": "US hospital CEO turnover in 2022, the third consecutive year at that rate.", "source": "American College of Healthcare Executives, annual hospital CEO turnover analysis", "year": "2022 data", "sourceUrl": "https://www.ache.org/learning-center/research/about-ceos/hospital-ceo-turnover" }, { "id": "year-over-year-increase-in-hospital-ceo-departures-through-j", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#year-over-year-increase-in-hospital-ceo-departures-through-j", "figure": "+15%", "claim": "Year-over-year increase in hospital CEO departures through July 2025 (78 exits versus 68 a year earlier).", "source": "Challenger, Gray & Christmas tracking, reported by Advisory Board", "year": "2025", "sourceUrl": "https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2025/09/04/ceo-exits" }, { "id": "share-of-the-us-federal-workforce-the-gao-warned-would-becom", "permalink": "https://successionstack.com/succession-planning-statistics#share-of-the-us-federal-workforce-the-gao-warned-would-becom", "figure": ">30%", "claim": "Share of the US federal workforce the GAO warned would become retirement-eligible within roughly three years, a structural succession risk for government agencies.", "source": "US Government Accountability Office, testimony GAO-16-880T", "year": "2016", "sourceUrl": "https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-880T" } ] } ] }