The statistics have also revealed churches flourish the most when they are run by priests in their 40s or 60s.
Dr Peter Brierley, who compiled the research, thinks vicars in their 50s are under the most pressure.
Speaking to Premier, he said: "Here you are, you're in your 50s and your church isn't growing and you've been trying for a good four or five years, doing everything you can to try to help people to come faith and it hasn't worked. You get disillusioned."
Marcus Honeysett from Living Leadership, an evangelical training and support group for priests, thinks many vicars are lacking support from the Church of England, which is leading to problems.
On Premier News Hour, he said: "The main ones that get repeated again and again are discouragement compounded by isolation and not having enough spiritual input yourself for your level of output. So you feed others but nobody feeds you and your family, and you can do that for a while, but eventually you run on fumes."
Curates and chaplains are also more likely to quit in their 50s, according to the figures.
Dr Peter Brierley, Future First:
Marcus Honeysett, Living Leadership: