diff --git a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/DataflowSystemMetrics.java b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/DataflowSystemMetrics.java
index e9766fe387e2..ee2a04af9982 100644
--- a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/DataflowSystemMetrics.java
+++ b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/DataflowSystemMetrics.java
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ public enum StreamingSystemCounterNames {
     JAVA_HARNESS_MAX_MEMORY("dataflow_java_harness_max_memory"),
     JAVA_HARNESS_RESTARTS("dataflow_java_harness_restarts"),
     TIME_AT_MAX_ACTIVE_THREADS("dataflow_time_at_max_active_threads"),
+    ACTIVE_THREADS("dataflow_active_threads"),
+    TOTAL_ALLOCATED_THREADS("dataflow_total_allocated_threads"),
     WINDMILL_QUOTA_THROTTLING("dataflow_streaming_engine_throttled_msecs"),
     MEMORY_THRASHING("dataflow_streaming_engine_user_worker_thrashing");
 
diff --git a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorker.java b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorker.java
index 7110fee29362..5d4c0288c838 100644
--- a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorker.java
+++ b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorker.java
@@ -246,6 +246,8 @@ public class StreamingDataflowWorker {
   private final Counter<Long, Long> javaHarnessUsedMemory;
   private final Counter<Long, Long> javaHarnessMaxMemory;
   private final Counter<Long, Long> timeAtMaxActiveThreads;
+  private final Counter<Integer, Integer> activeThreads;
+  private final Counter<Integer, Integer> totalAllocatedThreads;
   private final Counter<Integer, Integer> windmillMaxObservedWorkItemCommitBytes;
   private final Counter<Integer, Integer> memoryThrashing;
   private final boolean publishCounters;
@@ -330,6 +332,11 @@ public class StreamingDataflowWorker {
     this.timeAtMaxActiveThreads =
         pendingCumulativeCounters.longSum(
             StreamingSystemCounterNames.TIME_AT_MAX_ACTIVE_THREADS.counterName());
+    this.activeThreads =
+        pendingCumulativeCounters.intSum(StreamingSystemCounterNames.ACTIVE_THREADS.counterName());
+    this.totalAllocatedThreads =
+        pendingCumulativeCounters.intSum(
+            StreamingSystemCounterNames.TOTAL_ALLOCATED_THREADS.counterName());
     this.windmillMaxObservedWorkItemCommitBytes =
         pendingCumulativeCounters.intMax(
             StreamingSystemCounterNames.WINDMILL_MAX_WORK_ITEM_COMMIT_BYTES.counterName());
@@ -1702,6 +1709,10 @@ private void updateVMMetrics() {
   private void updateThreadMetrics() {
     timeAtMaxActiveThreads.getAndReset();
     timeAtMaxActiveThreads.addValue(workUnitExecutor.allThreadsActiveTime());
+    activeThreads.getAndReset();
+    activeThreads.addValue(workUnitExecutor.activeCount());
+    totalAllocatedThreads.getAndReset();
+    totalAllocatedThreads.addValue(chooseMaximumNumberOfThreads());
   }
 
   @VisibleForTesting
diff --git a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/util/BoundedQueueExecutor.java b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/util/BoundedQueueExecutor.java
index 05b752f91c0c..a160b0e6ad03 100644
--- a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/util/BoundedQueueExecutor.java
+++ b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/util/BoundedQueueExecutor.java
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ public long allThreadsActiveTime() {
     return totalTimeMaxActiveThreadsUsed;
   }
 
+  public int activeCount() {
+    return activeCount.intValue();
+  }
+
   public String summaryHtml() {
     monitor.enter();
     try {
diff --git a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorkerTest.java b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorkerTest.java
index 82fc38055a88..24e6e2795c68 100644
--- a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorkerTest.java
+++ b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/worker/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/worker/StreamingDataflowWorkerTest.java
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ static Work createMockWork(long workToken, Consumer<Work> processWorkFn) {
         Windmill.WorkItem.newBuilder().setKey(ByteString.EMPTY).setWorkToken(workToken).build(),
         Instant::now,
         Collections.emptyList(),
-        work -> {});
+        processWorkFn);
   }
 
   private byte[] intervalWindowBytes(IntervalWindow window) throws Exception {
@@ -2793,6 +2793,79 @@ public void testMaxThreadMetric() throws Exception {
     executor.shutdown();
   }
 
+  volatile boolean stop = false;
+
+  @Test
+  public void testActiveThreadMetric() throws Exception {
+    int maxThreads = 5;
+    int threadExpirationSec = 60;
+    // setting up actual implementation of executor instead of mocking to keep track of
+    // active thread count.
+    BoundedQueueExecutor executor =
+        new BoundedQueueExecutor(
+            maxThreads,
+            threadExpirationSec,
+            TimeUnit.SECONDS,
+            maxThreads,
+            10000000,
+            new ThreadFactoryBuilder()
+                .setNameFormat("DataflowWorkUnits-%d")
+                .setDaemon(true)
+                .build());
+
+    ComputationState computationState =
+        new ComputationState(
+            "computation",
+            defaultMapTask(Arrays.asList(makeSourceInstruction(StringUtf8Coder.of()))),
+            executor,
+            ImmutableMap.of(),
+            null);
+
+    ShardedKey key1Shard1 = ShardedKey.create(ByteString.copyFromUtf8("key1"), 1);
+
+    Consumer<Work> sleepProcessWorkFn =
+        unused -> {
+          synchronized (this) {
+            this.notify();
+          }
+          int count = 0;
+          while (!stop) {
+            count += 1;
+          }
+        };
+
+    Work m2 = createMockWork(2, sleepProcessWorkFn);
+
+    Work m3 = createMockWork(3, sleepProcessWorkFn);
+
+    Work m4 = createMockWork(4, sleepProcessWorkFn);
+    assertEquals(0, executor.activeCount());
+
+    assertTrue(computationState.activateWork(key1Shard1, m2));
+    synchronized (this) {
+      executor.execute(m2, m2.getWorkItem().getSerializedSize());
+      this.wait();
+      // Seems current executor executes the initial work item twice
+      this.wait();
+    }
+    assertEquals(2, executor.activeCount());
+
+    assertTrue(computationState.activateWork(key1Shard1, m3));
+    assertTrue(computationState.activateWork(key1Shard1, m4));
+    synchronized (this) {
+      executor.execute(m3, m3.getWorkItem().getSerializedSize());
+      this.wait();
+    }
+    assertEquals(3, executor.activeCount());
+    synchronized (this) {
+      executor.execute(m4, m4.getWorkItem().getSerializedSize());
+      this.wait();
+    }
+    assertEquals(4, executor.activeCount());
+    stop = true;
+    executor.shutdown();
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testExceptionInvalidatesCache() throws Exception {
     // We'll need to force the system to limit bundles to one message at a time.