Competition
Competition intensity in public procurement
How many bids does a public contract actually attract? An award that drew exactly one bid is the strongest available signal that a market is open to a challenger — and the share of such awards varies sharply by buyer and by sector.
Awards that drew a single bid
35.9%
of 430,761 awards stating a count
Bids per award (average)
3.79
Awards stating a bid count
61.6%
430,761 / 698,809
Awards
698,809
By type of buyer
| Utility / sector | 40.9% | of 244,881 awards stating a count | |
| Federal | 35.4% | of 26,263 awards stating a count | |
| State | 35.3% | of 44,487 awards stating a count | |
| Other | 32.1% | of 29,600 awards stating a count | |
| Municipal | 23.2% | of 84,983 awards stating a count |
By sector
| Laboratory and optical equipment | 59.2% | of 6,679 awards stating a count | |
| Software and information systems | 54.7% | of 6,981 awards stating a count | |
| Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals | 53.4% | of 131,184 awards stating a count | |
| Public utilities | 49.2% | of 557 awards stating a count | |
| Security and defence equipment | 45.8% | of 2,893 awards stating a count | |
| Health and social work | 43.8% | of 11,558 awards stating a count | |
| Repair and maintenance services | 43.4% | of 18,325 awards stating a count | |
| Research and development | 43.3% | of 968 awards stating a count | |
| IT services | 41.3% | of 12,235 awards stating a count | |
| Industrial machinery | 40.9% | of 3,223 awards stating a count | |
| Culture, sport and recreation | 39.7% | of 2,326 awards stating a count | |
| Chemical products | 39.7% | of 2,642 awards stating a count | |
| Radio, television and communications | 38.4% | of 3,327 awards stating a count | |
| Education and training | 38.1% | of 10,094 awards stating a count | |
| Transport equipment | 37.9% | of 15,627 awards stating a count | |
| Postal and telecommunications services | 37.5% | of 2,172 awards stating a count | |
| Mining and construction machinery | 35% | of 1,001 awards stating a count | |
| Real estate services | 34.7% | of 363 awards stating a count | |
| Financial and insurance services | 33.7% | of 6,374 awards stating a count | |
| Supporting transport services | 33.7% | of 1,766 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural machinery | 33.3% | of 935 awards stating a count | |
| Other services | 32.5% | of 2,367 awards stating a count | |
| Transport services | 32.2% | of 9,878 awards stating a count | |
| Electrical machinery | 31.5% | of 4,187 awards stating a count | |
| Musical instruments, sport goods, toys | 31% | of 929 awards stating a count | |
| Installation services | 30.1% | of 973 awards stating a count | |
| Public administration and defence | 29.9% | of 1,515 awards stating a count | |
| Hotel and restaurant services | 28.7% | of 3,473 awards stating a count | |
| Office and computing machinery | 28.7% | of 8,689 awards stating a count | |
| Mining, basic materials | 27.2% | of 624 awards stating a count | |
| Clothing and footwear | 26.7% | of 3,172 awards stating a count | |
| Food and beverages | 25.4% | of 8,638 awards stating a count | |
| Construction materials and structures | 25.3% | of 5,537 awards stating a count | |
| Sewage, refuse and environmental services | 23.5% | of 23,330 awards stating a count | |
| Petroleum, fuels, electricity | 23.4% | of 6,154 awards stating a count | |
| Printed matter | 23.4% | of 1,673 awards stating a count | |
| Leather and textiles | 23.3% | of 467 awards stating a count | |
| Furniture and furnishings | 21.1% | of 8,855 awards stating a count | |
| Business and management services | 20.4% | of 15,332 awards stating a count | |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 20.3% | of 1,874 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural and forestry services | 19.6% | of 10,678 awards stating a count | |
| Architectural and engineering services | 15.1% | of 27,097 awards stating a count | |
| Construction work | 10.2% | of 43,871 awards stating a count |
By country
| GR | 60.7% | of 537 awards stating a count | |
| PO | 56.4% | of 117,597 awards stating a count | |
| El Salvador | 44.7% | of 987 awards stating a count | |
| Czechia | 43.8% | of 18,067 awards stating a count | |
| Bulgaria | 41% | of 993 awards stating a count | |
| Lithuania | 40.3% | of 253 awards stating a count | |
| DN | 40.2% | of 224 awards stating a count | |
| Spain | 38.3% | of 70,074 awards stating a count | |
| Italy | 37.7% | of 21,379 awards stating a count | |
| Puerto Rico | 37.5% | of 1,029 awards stating a count | |
| Spain | 34.9% | of 418 awards stating a count | |
| Hungary | 33.9% | of 496 awards stating a count | |
| El Salvador | 33.6% | of 360 awards stating a count | |
| Romania | 32.6% | of 21,396 awards stating a count | |
| SW | 29.8% | of 701 awards stating a count | |
| Netherlands | 26.3% | of 12,801 awards stating a count | |
| Australia | 26.2% | of 8,390 awards stating a count | |
| Latvia | 25.7% | of 647 awards stating a count | |
| Germany | 21.3% | of 77,030 awards stating a count | |
| Iran | 19.4% | of 232 awards stating a count | |
| France | 18% | of 72,412 awards stating a count | |
| Belgium | 17.8% | of 692 awards stating a count | |
| Croatia | 16.3% | of 3,272 awards stating a count | |
| Finland | 9.4% | of 382 awards stating a count |
Distribution of bid counts
- 1bids154,503 (36.4%)
- 2bids76,453 (18%)
- 3–5bids123,988 (29.2%)
- 6+bids69,671 (16.4%)
Methodology
The basis is the number of bids received as stated in the notice. Percentages are always of awards that state that number — the denominator is printed beside every figure. Groups with fewer than 200 such awards are not shown, because below that the share is noise. Counts above 200 bids are excluded from the average: those are data-entry errors, not procurements.
Source: TED / EU Publications Office · Expiry radar