diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/manager/task/AbstractPipelinedTask.java b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/manager/task/AbstractPipelinedTask.java
index bba9eee2da..c995e4a0af 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/manager/task/AbstractPipelinedTask.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/manager/task/AbstractPipelinedTask.java
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
  */
 package tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.task;
 
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.Counter;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricCategory;
 import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricsSystem;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractPipelinedTask<I, O> extends AbstractEthTask<List<O
   private boolean shuttingDown = false;
   private final AtomicReference<Throwable> processingException = new AtomicReference<>(null);
 
+  private final Counter inboundQueueCounter;
+  private final Counter outboundQueueCounter;
+
   protected AbstractPipelinedTask(
       final BlockingQueue<I> inboundQueue,
       final int outboundBacklogSize,
@@ -45,6 +50,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractPipelinedTask<I, O> extends AbstractEthTask<List<O
     this.inboundQueue = inboundQueue;
     outboundQueue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<>(outboundBacklogSize);
     results = new ArrayList<>();
+    this.inboundQueueCounter =
+        metricsSystem.createCounter(
+            MetricCategory.SYNCHRONIZER,
+            "inboundQueueCounter",
+            "count of queue items that started processing");
+    this.outboundQueueCounter =
+        metricsSystem.createCounter(
+            MetricCategory.SYNCHRONIZER,
+            "outboundQueueCounter",
+            "count of queue items that finished processing");
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -62,6 +77,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractPipelinedTask<I, O> extends AbstractEthTask<List<O
             // timed out waiting for a result
             continue;
           }
+          inboundQueueCounter.inc();
         } catch (final InterruptedException e) {
           // this is expected
           continue;
@@ -72,6 +88,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractPipelinedTask<I, O> extends AbstractEthTask<List<O
               while (!isDone()) {
                 try {
                   if (outboundQueue.offer(o, 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+                    outboundQueueCounter.inc();
                     results.add(o);
                     break;
                   }
diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/sync/fullsync/IncrementerTest.java b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/sync/fullsync/IncrementerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5aa048a448
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/eth/sync/fullsync/IncrementerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2019 ConsenSys AG.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on
+ * an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+ */
+package tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.sync.fullsync;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
+
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.ProtocolContext;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.chain.Blockchain;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.chain.MutableBlockchain;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.EthContext;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.EthProtocolManager;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.EthProtocolManagerTestUtil;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.EthScheduler;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.RespondingEthPeer;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.manager.ethtaskutils.BlockchainSetupUtil;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.sync.SynchronizerConfiguration;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.eth.sync.state.SyncState;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.ethereum.mainnet.ProtocolSchedule;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricCategory;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.MetricsSystem;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.Observation;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.noop.NoOpMetricsSystem;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.prometheus.MetricsConfiguration;
+import tech.pegasys.pantheon.metrics.prometheus.PrometheusMetricsSystem;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
+import org.assertj.core.util.Lists;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class IncrementerTest {
+  private final MetricsConfiguration metricsConfiguration = MetricsConfiguration.createDefault();
+  private ProtocolSchedule<Void> protocolSchedule;
+  private EthContext ethContext;
+  private ProtocolContext<Void> protocolContext;
+  private SyncState syncState;
+  private MutableBlockchain localBlockchain;
+  private MetricsSystem metricsSystem;
+
+  @Test
+  public void parallelDownloadPipelineCounterShouldIncrement() {
+    metricsConfiguration.setEnabled(true);
+    metricsSystem = PrometheusMetricsSystem.init(metricsConfiguration);
+
+    final BlockchainSetupUtil<Void> localBlockchainSetup = BlockchainSetupUtil.forTesting();
+    localBlockchain = spy(localBlockchainSetup.getBlockchain());
+    final BlockchainSetupUtil<Void> otherBlockchainSetup = BlockchainSetupUtil.forTesting();
+    final Blockchain otherBlockchain = otherBlockchainSetup.getBlockchain();
+
+    protocolSchedule = localBlockchainSetup.getProtocolSchedule();
+    protocolContext = localBlockchainSetup.getProtocolContext();
+    final EthProtocolManager ethProtocolManager =
+        EthProtocolManagerTestUtil.create(
+            localBlockchain,
+            localBlockchainSetup.getWorldArchive(),
+            new EthScheduler(1, 1, 1, new NoOpMetricsSystem()));
+    ethContext = ethProtocolManager.ethContext();
+    syncState = new SyncState(protocolContext.getBlockchain(), ethContext.getEthPeers());
+
+    otherBlockchainSetup.importFirstBlocks(15);
+    final long targetBlock = otherBlockchain.getChainHeadBlockNumber();
+    // Sanity check
+    assertThat(targetBlock).isGreaterThan(localBlockchain.getChainHeadBlockNumber());
+
+    final RespondingEthPeer peer =
+        EthProtocolManagerTestUtil.createPeer(ethProtocolManager, otherBlockchain);
+    final RespondingEthPeer.Responder responder =
+        RespondingEthPeer.blockchainResponder(otherBlockchain);
+
+    final SynchronizerConfiguration syncConfig =
+        SynchronizerConfiguration.builder().downloaderChainSegmentSize(10).build();
+    final FullSyncDownloader<?> downloader = downloader(syncConfig);
+    downloader.start();
+
+    peer.respondWhileOtherThreadsWork(responder, () -> !syncState.syncTarget().isPresent());
+    assertThat(syncState.syncTarget()).isPresent();
+    assertThat(syncState.syncTarget().get().peer()).isEqualTo(peer.getEthPeer());
+
+    peer.respondWhileOtherThreadsWork(
+        responder, () -> localBlockchain.getChainHeadBlockNumber() < targetBlock);
+
+    assertThat(localBlockchain.getChainHeadBlockNumber()).isEqualTo(targetBlock);
+
+    final List<Observation> metrics =
+        metricsSystem.getMetrics(MetricCategory.SYNCHRONIZER).collect(Collectors.toList());
+    final Observation inboundObservation =
+        new Observation(MetricCategory.SYNCHRONIZER, "inboundQueueCounter", 6.0, Lists.emptyList());
+    final Observation outboundObservation =
+        new Observation(
+            MetricCategory.SYNCHRONIZER, "outboundQueueCounter", 5.0, Lists.emptyList());
+    assertThat(metrics).contains(inboundObservation, outboundObservation);
+  }
+
+  private FullSyncDownloader<?> downloader(final SynchronizerConfiguration syncConfig) {
+    return new FullSyncDownloader<>(
+        syncConfig, protocolSchedule, protocolContext, ethContext, syncState, metricsSystem);
+  }
+}