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
35.5%
of 568,948 awards stating a count
Bids per award (average)
3.66
Awards stating a bid count
66.9%
568,948 / 850,748
Awards
850,748
By type of buyer
| Utility / sector | 39.6% | of 332,089 awards stating a count | |
| State | 34.8% | of 50,206 awards stating a count | |
| Federal | 34.4% | of 42,585 awards stating a count | |
| Other | 32.6% | of 36,353 awards stating a count | |
| Municipal | 24.8% | of 106,909 awards stating a count |
By sector
| Laboratory and optical equipment | 59.1% | of 8,398 awards stating a count | |
| Software and information systems | 54.4% | of 8,187 awards stating a count | |
| Public utilities | 48.2% | of 662 awards stating a count | |
| Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals | 47.7% | of 202,852 awards stating a count | |
| Repair and maintenance services | 46.2% | of 23,112 awards stating a count | |
| Security and defence equipment | 45.1% | of 3,989 awards stating a count | |
| Health and social work | 43.5% | of 12,857 awards stating a count | |
| Research and development | 42.7% | of 1,193 awards stating a count | |
| IT services | 41.7% | of 14,334 awards stating a count | |
| Industrial machinery | 41.1% | of 4,047 awards stating a count | |
| Chemical products | 40.9% | of 3,542 awards stating a count | |
| Education and training | 39.5% | of 11,441 awards stating a count | |
| Radio, television and communications | 39.3% | of 4,144 awards stating a count | |
| Culture, sport and recreation | 39% | of 2,592 awards stating a count | |
| Transport equipment | 39% | of 18,912 awards stating a count | |
| Postal and telecommunications services | 37.1% | of 2,628 awards stating a count | |
| Supporting transport services | 35% | of 2,071 awards stating a count | |
| Mining and construction machinery | 34.8% | of 1,296 awards stating a count | |
| Mining, basic materials | 34.6% | of 933 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural machinery | 34.5% | of 1,108 awards stating a count | |
| Financial and insurance services | 34% | of 7,542 awards stating a count | |
| Other services | 33.6% | of 2,860 awards stating a count | |
| Musical instruments, sport goods, toys | 33.2% | of 1,151 awards stating a count | |
| Transport services | 32.2% | of 12,161 awards stating a count | |
| Electrical machinery | 31.9% | of 5,352 awards stating a count | |
| Real estate services | 31.2% | of 452 awards stating a count | |
| Installation services | 30.8% | of 1,188 awards stating a count | |
| Public administration and defence | 30.1% | of 1,764 awards stating a count | |
| Hotel and restaurant services | 28.3% | of 4,132 awards stating a count | |
| Office and computing machinery | 27.8% | of 11,335 awards stating a count | |
| Clothing and footwear | 27.7% | of 3,868 awards stating a count | |
| Printed matter | 26.3% | of 1,993 awards stating a count | |
| Construction materials and structures | 26.3% | of 6,807 awards stating a count | |
| Petroleum, fuels, electricity | 25.6% | of 8,122 awards stating a count | |
| Sewage, refuse and environmental services | 24.6% | of 28,071 awards stating a count | |
| Leather and textiles | 23.6% | of 626 awards stating a count | |
| Food and beverages | 21.9% | of 14,992 awards stating a count | |
| Furniture and furnishings | 21% | of 11,004 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural and forestry services | 20.9% | of 12,876 awards stating a count | |
| Business and management services | 20.8% | of 18,091 awards stating a count | |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 16.9% | of 2,888 awards stating a count | |
| Architectural and engineering services | 15.1% | of 32,236 awards stating a count | |
| Construction work | 11.1% | of 50,868 awards stating a count |
By country
| Greece | 60.3% | of 1,925 awards stating a count | |
| Poland | 55.8% | of 136,009 awards stating a count | |
| Slovenia | 49.5% | of 4,187 awards stating a count | |
| Portugal | 45.8% | of 3,198 awards stating a count | |
| Czechia | 43.8% | of 24,885 awards stating a count | |
| Bulgaria | 43.3% | of 3,623 awards stating a count | |
| Denmark | 41.5% | of 1,349 awards stating a count | |
| Hungary | 41.1% | of 2,177 awards stating a count | |
| Spain | 38.4% | of 76,744 awards stating a count | |
| Lithuania | 38.2% | of 770 awards stating a count | |
| Italy | 37.2% | of 24,418 awards stating a count | |
| Romania | 32.4% | of 75,805 awards stating a count | |
| Estonia | 32% | of 1,468 awards stating a count | |
| Latvia | 30.1% | of 2,202 awards stating a count | |
| Slovakia | 29.9% | of 1,558 awards stating a count | |
| Austria | 28.5% | of 9,343 awards stating a count | |
| Netherlands | 26.5% | of 13,724 awards stating a count | |
| Sweden | 26% | of 2,347 awards stating a count | |
| Belgium | 21.9% | of 1,929 awards stating a count | |
| Germany | 21.4% | of 87,425 awards stating a count | |
| Norway | 21.2% | of 476 awards stating a count | |
| France | 17.9% | of 77,983 awards stating a count | |
| Ireland | 17.9% | of 742 awards stating a count | |
| Luxembourg | 16.4% | of 213 awards stating a count | |
| Croatia | 15.2% | of 12,982 awards stating a count | |
| Finland | 13.9% | of 1,144 awards stating a count |
Distribution of bid counts
- 1bids202,176 (35.9%)
- 2bids103,326 (18.4%)
- 3–5bids169,984 (30.2%)
- 6+bids87,265 (15.5%)
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