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
35.6%
of 531,676 awards stating a count
Bids per award (average)
3.67
Awards stating a bid count
65.7%
531,676 / 809,583
Awards
809,583
By type of buyer
| Utility / sector | 40.1% | of 308,963 awards stating a count | |
| State | 34.8% | of 48,088 awards stating a count | |
| Federal | 34.4% | of 37,714 awards stating a count | |
| Other | 31.1% | of 32,951 awards stating a count | |
| Municipal | 24.6% | of 103,229 awards stating a count |
By sector
| Laboratory and optical equipment | 59.1% | of 7,977 awards stating a count | |
| Software and information systems | 54.3% | of 7,846 awards stating a count | |
| Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals | 48.7% | of 184,343 awards stating a count | |
| Public utilities | 48.3% | of 629 awards stating a count | |
| Repair and maintenance services | 45.9% | of 21,812 awards stating a count | |
| Security and defence equipment | 45.8% | of 3,484 awards stating a count | |
| Health and social work | 43.6% | of 12,578 awards stating a count | |
| Research and development | 43.1% | of 1,135 awards stating a count | |
| IT services | 41.6% | of 13,697 awards stating a count | |
| Industrial machinery | 41.3% | of 3,813 awards stating a count | |
| Chemical products | 41% | of 3,321 awards stating a count | |
| Education and training | 39.5% | of 11,162 awards stating a count | |
| Culture, sport and recreation | 39.2% | of 2,517 awards stating a count | |
| Radio, television and communications | 38.9% | of 3,903 awards stating a count | |
| Transport equipment | 38.9% | of 18,000 awards stating a count | |
| Postal and telecommunications services | 37.2% | of 2,530 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural machinery | 34.7% | of 1,069 awards stating a count | |
| Mining, basic materials | 34.6% | of 873 awards stating a count | |
| Mining and construction machinery | 34.3% | of 1,225 awards stating a count | |
| Supporting transport services | 34% | of 1,950 awards stating a count | |
| Other services | 33.8% | of 2,732 awards stating a count | |
| Financial and insurance services | 33.7% | of 7,186 awards stating a count | |
| Real estate services | 32.4% | of 417 awards stating a count | |
| Musical instruments, sport goods, toys | 32.1% | of 1,087 awards stating a count | |
| Transport services | 32% | of 11,629 awards stating a count | |
| Electrical machinery | 31.7% | of 5,061 awards stating a count | |
| Installation services | 30.6% | of 1,156 awards stating a count | |
| Public administration and defence | 30% | of 1,622 awards stating a count | |
| Hotel and restaurant services | 28.8% | of 3,961 awards stating a count | |
| Office and computing machinery | 27.8% | of 10,597 awards stating a count | |
| Clothing and footwear | 27.6% | of 3,675 awards stating a count | |
| Construction materials and structures | 26.2% | of 6,427 awards stating a count | |
| Petroleum, fuels, electricity | 25.2% | of 7,578 awards stating a count | |
| Printed matter | 24.8% | of 1,881 awards stating a count | |
| Sewage, refuse and environmental services | 24.2% | of 26,429 awards stating a count | |
| Leather and textiles | 23.3% | of 589 awards stating a count | |
| Food and beverages | 22.8% | of 13,227 awards stating a count | |
| Furniture and furnishings | 20.8% | of 10,364 awards stating a count | |
| Business and management services | 20.7% | of 17,211 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural and forestry services | 20.3% | of 12,194 awards stating a count | |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 17.8% | of 2,662 awards stating a count | |
| Architectural and engineering services | 15.2% | of 30,801 awards stating a count | |
| Construction work | 11% | of 49,062 awards stating a count |
By country
| Greece | 62.1% | of 1,619 awards stating a count | |
| Poland | 56% | of 131,093 awards stating a count | |
| Slovenia | 49.5% | of 2,959 awards stating a count | |
| Denmark | 45.4% | of 1,027 awards stating a count | |
| Czechia | 43.8% | of 23,519 awards stating a count | |
| Portugal | 43.3% | of 2,668 awards stating a count | |
| Bulgaria | 42.9% | of 2,875 awards stating a count | |
| Hungary | 42.1% | of 1,860 awards stating a count | |
| Lithuania | 39.3% | of 573 awards stating a count | |
| Spain | 38.5% | of 74,894 awards stating a count | |
| Italy | 37.2% | of 23,738 awards stating a count | |
| Estonia | 33% | of 1,116 awards stating a count | |
| Romania | 32.2% | of 61,357 awards stating a count | |
| Slovakia | 30.5% | of 1,088 awards stating a count | |
| Latvia | 29.4% | of 1,740 awards stating a count | |
| Austria | 27.4% | of 8,891 awards stating a count | |
| Sweden | 26.5% | of 1,782 awards stating a count | |
| Netherlands | 26.4% | of 13,417 awards stating a count | |
| Norway | 23.3% | of 390 awards stating a count | |
| Belgium | 22% | of 1,635 awards stating a count | |
| Germany | 21.4% | of 84,528 awards stating a count | |
| Ireland | 19.8% | of 587 awards stating a count | |
| France | 18% | of 76,341 awards stating a count | |
| Croatia | 15.6% | of 10,597 awards stating a count | |
| Finland | 13.5% | of 920 awards stating a count |
Distribution of bid counts
- 1bids189,446 (36.1%)
- 2bids96,126 (18.3%)
- 3–5bids157,670 (30%)
- 6+bids82,264 (15.7%)
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