EU Public Procurement by the Numbers: Key Statistics for 2026

Market Size and Overall Scale

• €2.0–2.2 trillion — estimated total annual EU public procurement spend (goods, services, works) across all 27 member states
• ~14% of GDP — public procurement as a share of EU GDP (Eurostat estimate)
• ~€700–800 billion — estimated above-threshold procurement published on TED annually
• ~700,000+ notices — annual publication volume on TED (contract notices, award notices, PINs, corrigenda)
• ~250,000 — estimated number of contracting authorities publishing on TED across the EU-27

TED Publication Statistics

• ~200,000–220,000 — annual contract notices (CN) published on TED — new procurement processes
• ~250,000–280,000 — annual contract award notices (CAN) — completed procurement outcomes
• 24 languages — official EU languages in which TED notices are available
• ~25% — share of TED notices where no company registration/identity is disclosed (direct awards, single-tender procedures)
• ~10 million — total notices in TED archive since 1993

Cross-Border Procurement

Cross-border procurement — where a contract is awarded to a supplier from a different EU member state — remains strikingly low despite the single market principle:

• ~5% — share of above-threshold EU contracts by value awarded to foreign (cross-border) suppliers, as reported by the European Commission
• ~2% — share by number of contracts (many cross-border wins are high-value)
• ~20% — share of EU contracts where the winning bidder is foreign if "indirect" cross-border (through subsidiaries or subcontractors) is included

The low direct cross-border rate reflects genuine barriers — language, local qualification requirements, unfamiliarity with national procedures — rather than legal discrimination, which is prohibited under EU law. The European Commission has identified increasing cross-border participation as a key procurement policy objective for 2025–2030.

SME Participation Statistics

• 99% — share of EU businesses that are SMEs (fewer than 250 employees)
• 29% — share of above-threshold public contract value won by SMEs (European Commission Annual Report 2024)
• 45% — share of above-threshold public contracts by number won by SMEs (SMEs win more small-value contracts)
• 65% — the SME share of private sector employment — highlighting the gap between economic weight and procurement access

Procurement by Procedure Type

• ~58% — share of above-threshold contracts using the open procedure
• ~14% — restricted procedure
• ~8% — negotiated procedure with publication
• ~12% — negotiated procedure without publication (direct awards) — subject to ongoing Commission scrutiny
• ~8% — framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems

Procurement by Sector

• Construction/Works: ~35–40% of total above-threshold value
• IT and digital services: ~8–10% — fastest growing sector
• Healthcare: ~7–8%
• Transport services and equipment: ~7%
• Energy: ~6%
• Professional services (consulting, legal, financial): ~5%
• Defence and security: ~4% (published; much more estimated under exemptions)

Largest Procurement Markets by Member State

• Germany: ~22% of total EU procurement value
• France: ~18%
• Italy: ~12%
• Spain: ~9%
• Poland: ~6% (growing rapidly as structural fund absorption accelerates)
• Netherlands: ~5%
• Sweden: ~4%
• Remaining 20 member states: ~24% combined

Eastern European member states — particularly Poland, Romania, and Hungary — are proportionally large procurement markets relative to GDP due to intensive EU Cohesion Fund co-financing of infrastructure and institutional capacity projects.