In this work, we provide a detailed analysis of phosphorene’s performance as an n-type and p-type active material. This study is based on first principles calculations of the phosphorene electronic structure, and the resulting electron and hole scattering rates and lifetimes. Emphasis is put on extreme regimes commonly found in semiconductor devices, i.e. high electric fields and heavy doping, where impact ionization and Auger recombination can occur. We found that electron-initiated impact ionization is weaker than the hole-initiated process, when compared to carrier–phonon interaction rates, suggesting resilience to impact ionization initiated breakdown. Moreover, calculated minority electron lifetimes are limited by radiative recombination only, not by Auger processes, suggesting that phosphorene could achieve good quantum efficiencies in optoelectronic devices. The provided scattering rates and lifetimes are critical input data for the modeling and understanding of phosphorene-based device physics.