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
35.8%
of 405,417 awards stating a count
Bids per award (average)
3.83
Awards stating a bid count
60.5%
405,417 / 670,622
Awards
670,622
By type of buyer
| Utility / sector | 41.2% | of 230,591 awards stating a count | |
| Federal | 35.6% | of 23,605 awards stating a count | |
| State | 34.8% | of 41,915 awards stating a count | |
| Other | 29.9% | of 27,043 awards stating a count | |
| Municipal | 23.1% | of 81,786 awards stating a count |
By sector
| Laboratory and optical equipment | 59.2% | of 6,268 awards stating a count | |
| Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals | 55% | of 116,362 awards stating a count | |
| Software and information systems | 55% | of 6,761 awards stating a count | |
| Public utilities | 48.7% | of 540 awards stating a count | |
| Security and defence equipment | 45.9% | of 2,804 awards stating a count | |
| Health and social work | 43.9% | of 11,272 awards stating a count | |
| Research and development | 43.4% | of 930 awards stating a count | |
| Repair and maintenance services | 42.9% | of 17,418 awards stating a count | |
| IT services | 41.1% | of 11,931 awards stating a count | |
| Industrial machinery | 40.9% | of 3,099 awards stating a count | |
| Culture, sport and recreation | 39.9% | of 2,289 awards stating a count | |
| Chemical products | 39.7% | of 2,493 awards stating a count | |
| Education and training | 38.3% | of 9,827 awards stating a count | |
| Radio, television and communications | 38.2% | of 3,199 awards stating a count | |
| Transport equipment | 38% | of 15,024 awards stating a count | |
| Postal and telecommunications services | 37.6% | of 2,101 awards stating a count | |
| Mining and construction machinery | 35% | of 944 awards stating a count | |
| Real estate services | 34.9% | of 321 awards stating a count | |
| Supporting transport services | 34.7% | of 1,701 awards stating a count | |
| Financial and insurance services | 33.6% | of 6,245 awards stating a count | |
| Other services | 32.7% | of 2,308 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural machinery | 32.4% | of 911 awards stating a count | |
| Transport services | 32% | of 9,352 awards stating a count | |
| Musical instruments, sport goods, toys | 31.7% | of 898 awards stating a count | |
| Electrical machinery | 30.4% | of 4,023 awards stating a count | |
| Installation services | 30.1% | of 936 awards stating a count | |
| Public administration and defence | 29.9% | of 1,496 awards stating a count | |
| Hotel and restaurant services | 28.9% | of 3,331 awards stating a count | |
| Office and computing machinery | 28.8% | of 8,375 awards stating a count | |
| Clothing and footwear | 27% | of 3,043 awards stating a count | |
| Mining, basic materials | 26% | of 576 awards stating a count | |
| Construction materials and structures | 25.2% | of 5,382 awards stating a count | |
| Food and beverages | 24.8% | of 7,699 awards stating a count | |
| Printed matter | 23.4% | of 1,644 awards stating a count | |
| Leather and textiles | 23.3% | of 443 awards stating a count | |
| Sewage, refuse and environmental services | 23.3% | of 22,577 awards stating a count | |
| Petroleum, fuels, electricity | 22.9% | of 5,909 awards stating a count | |
| Furniture and furnishings | 21% | of 8,479 awards stating a count | |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 20.5% | of 1,779 awards stating a count | |
| Business and management services | 20.2% | of 14,940 awards stating a count | |
| Agricultural and forestry services | 19.4% | of 10,338 awards stating a count | |
| Architectural and engineering services | 15% | of 26,369 awards stating a count | |
| Construction work | 10.1% | of 42,864 awards stating a count |
By country
| PO | 56.5% | of 111,769 awards stating a count | |
| El Salvador | 46.1% | of 542 awards stating a count | |
| Czechia | 43.6% | of 17,498 awards stating a count | |
| Bulgaria | 42.6% | of 523 awards stating a count | |
| Spain | 38.3% | of 68,946 awards stating a count | |
| Italy | 37.6% | of 20,897 awards stating a count | |
| Hungary | 35.9% | of 231 awards stating a count | |
| El Salvador | 33.5% | of 200 awards stating a count | |
| Romania | 32.5% | of 12,166 awards stating a count | |
| Puerto Rico | 32.3% | of 617 awards stating a count | |
| Spain | 31.6% | of 256 awards stating a count | |
| Netherlands | 26.4% | of 12,661 awards stating a count | |
| Australia | 26.1% | of 8,242 awards stating a count | |
| Latvia | 25.5% | of 411 awards stating a count | |
| SW | 22.1% | of 376 awards stating a count | |
| Germany | 21.3% | of 75,590 awards stating a count | |
| France | 18% | of 71,458 awards stating a count | |
| Croatia | 17.9% | of 1,621 awards stating a count | |
| Belgium | 16.9% | of 360 awards stating a count | |
| Finland | 6.8% | of 251 awards stating a count |
Distribution of bid counts
- 1bids145,099 (36.3%)
- 2bids71,595 (17.9%)
- 3–5bids115,934 (29%)
- 6+bids66,647 (16.7%)
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