~€2 trillion EU annual procurement spend Approximately 14% of EU GDP is spent through public procurement annually across all member states (European Commission estimate).

~750,000 TED notices per year TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) publishes approximately 750,000 procurement notices annually covering contracts above EU thresholds.

27 EU member states All 27 EU member states are required to publish above-threshold procurement notices on TED, enabling EU-wide supplier access.

€5.54M / €221K Works / services thresholds Contracts above these values must be published on TED. Works threshold: €5,538,000. Services (sub-central): €221,000. Updated every 2 years.

~34% SME share of EU contracts Approximately one-third of the value of EU public contracts above threshold is awarded to SMEs, according to European Commission data.

Open procedure Most common procedure The open procedure accounts for the majority of above-threshold EU contracts by number. Any qualified supplier can submit a bid with no pre-qualification stage.

EU public procurement is one of the most transparent and data-rich markets in the world. Every public contract above the threshold values set by Directive 2014/24/EU — €140,000 for central government services, €215,000 for sub-central authorities, €5.4 million for works contracts — must be published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), the official EU procurement journal. This generates a continuous, machine-readable stream of procurement data covering all 27 EU member states, all sectors, and all contracting authority types.

The statistics on this page reflect the live state of TED: how many active contract notices are currently open, which member states and sectors generate the most procurement activity, how contracts are distributed by procedure type, and what proportion of notices disclose an estimated contract value. Construction and infrastructure consistently dominate EU procurement by volume. IT services and professional consulting represent the fastest-growing categories. Open procedures account for the majority of contracts by number, while negotiated and competitive dialogue procedures are concentrated in defence, complex infrastructure, and innovation-intensive sectors.

Data is sourced directly from the TED API and updates hourly. Sector classification uses CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes assigned by contracting authorities. Value figures represent estimated contract values as disclosed in notices. Approximately 39% of active notices include a disclosed value, which is typical for the EU procurement dataset.

About EU Procurement Data

How many EU public tenders are published each year?

TED Europa publishes approximately 750,000 to 900,000 procurement notices per year across all 27 EU member states, plus EEA countries and institutions. This includes contract notices (open competitions), contract award notices (results of completed procedures), prior information notices (upcoming procurements), and corrigenda (amendments). The number of active above-threshold contract notices open at any given moment typically ranges from 15,000 to 25,000 across the EU, representing hundreds of billions of euros in procurement value.

Which EU member state publishes the most public tenders?

By volume of notices, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Spain consistently rank among the highest-publishing EU member states. France's extensive decentralised public sector — with thousands of communes, departments, and agencies all procuring independently — generates enormous notice volume. Poland and Romania benefit from high Cohesion Fund investment, generating large infrastructure procurement pipelines. Germany's federal structure means procurement is distributed across Länder, municipalities, and federal bodies, also generating high aggregate volumes. By total estimated contract value, Germany and France tend to lead.

What is the difference between a contract notice and a contract award notice?

A contract notice is the publication of an open competition — it signals that a contracting authority is seeking bids and sets the submission deadline. A contract award notice is published after the procedure is complete and a supplier has been selected; it records the winning supplier, contract value, and award date. TED publishes both. TenderMetric's live feed focuses on active contract notices (open competitions) where suppliers can still submit bids. Award notices provide market intelligence about which companies are winning EU public sector contracts and at what values.

TenderMetric — Independent EU procurement intelligence platform. Not affiliated with the EU Publications Office, the European Commission, or TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). Tender data is sourced from TED for informational purposes only; always verify procurement notices directly at ted.europa.eu before submitting a bid. Full Disclaimer · Last Reviewed: April 2026 · Data Methodology