Research
How many bids does a public tender get? Competition benchmark 2024–2025
In 2025 a Norwegian contract award published on TED received a median of 3 tenders, and 18.9% of awards had only one tender. Across the eight European countries in this study, the single-bid share ranged from 17.0% (France) to 28.4% (Netherlands). The figures come from 151,380 award notices with a reported bid count, published 2024–2025.
- Published
- Period
- Award notices published 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2025
- Sample
- 151,380 of 254,490 award notices report the number of tenders received
- Source
- TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) contract award notices, as indexed by Tenderen
- Prepared by
- Tenderen, Getia AS. Questions: Andreas Getia, [email protected]
Key findings
- Norway, 2025: a median of 3 tenders per award. 18.9% of awards had a single tender and 27.0% had five or more (n = 2,039).
- Across the eight countries studied, the 2025 single-bid share ranged from 17.0% (France) to 28.4% (Netherlands). Norway was at 18.9%.
- In the Nordics, 89.6% of awards made by negotiated procedure without prior publication had one tender, against 18.4% for open procedures.
- Nordic framework agreements had a single tender in 17.0% of awards, against 24.7% for other contracts.
- In Norway, competition was strongest in Construction work (CPV 45): 7.3% single-bid awards and a median of 4 tenders. It was weakest in Medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (CPV 33): 28.1% single-bid awards.
Single-bid share by country
The share of award notices with a reported bid count where the highest number of tenders received in any lot was one. The chart shows 2025; the table shows both years.
- Norway18.9%
- Sweden22.3%
- Denmark22.6%
- Finland20.3%
- Iceland23.1%
- Germany22.0%
- Netherlands28.4%
- France17.0%
| Country | Year | Award notices | With bid count | Single tender | Single tender, open procedure | Median tenders | Five or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 2024 | 3,687 | 1,417 | 21.4% | 19.2% | 3 | 25.8% |
| Norway | 2025 | 3,788 | 2,039 | 18.9% | 17.2% | 3 | 27.0% |
| Sweden | 2024 | 9,037 | 3,730 | 23.1% | 21.3% | 3 | 31.7% |
| Sweden | 2025 | 9,089 | 7,486 | 22.3% | 19.6% | 3 | 29.7% |
| Denmark | 2024 | 3,837 | 2,116 | 25.4% | 15.7% | 3 | 18.4% |
| Denmark | 2025 | 4,219 | 2,770 | 22.6% | 16.5% | 3 | 21.3% |
| Finland | 2024 | 5,901 | 2,365 | 19.2% | 15.4% | 3 | 34.0% |
| Finland | 2025 | 6,118 | 2,959 | 20.3% | 16.0% | 3 | 30.3% |
| Iceland | 2024 | 200 | 118 | 15.3% | 14.3% | 3 | 28.0% |
| Iceland | 2025 | 208 | 143 | 23.1% | 17.1% | 3 | 21.0% |
| Germany | 2024 | 59,030 | 41,094 | 24.6% | 17.9% | 3 | 31.2% |
| Germany | 2025 | 62,034 | 44,249 | 22.0% | 14.9% | 3 | 36.0% |
| Netherlands | 2024 | 9,120 | 5,515 | 30.2% | 18.9% | 3 | 22.5% |
| Netherlands | 2025 | 9,691 | 6,654 | 28.4% | 16.3% | 3 | 25.3% |
| France | 2024 | 33,764 | 13,000 | 17.1% | 14.5% | 3 | 30.6% |
| France | 2025 | 34,767 | 15,725 | 17.0% | 14.2% | 3 | 33.1% |
Nordic awards by procedure type
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland combined, 2024–2025. Procedure types with fewer than 100 awards are not shown.
| Procedure | Awards with bid count | Single tender | Median tenders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open procedure | 17,038 | 18.4% | 3 |
| Restricted procedure | 3,617 | 16.5% | 3 |
| Negotiated with prior publication | 2,203 | 17.9% | 3 |
| Negotiated without prior publication (direct award) | 1,117 | 89.6% | 1 |
| Other single-stage procedure | 388 | 40.7% | 2 |
| Other multi-stage procedure | 338 | 23.7% | 3 |
Framework agreements versus other contracts
Nordic award notices 2024–2025 that state whether a framework agreement is involved.
| Contract type | Awards with bid count | Single tender | Median tenders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Framework agreement | 9,411 | 17.0% | 3 |
| Other contracts | 15,167 | 24.7% | 3 |
Norway by CPV division
Norwegian award notices 2024–2025, grouped by the first two digits of the first CPV code on the notice. Divisions with fewer than 50 awards are not shown, and the key findings use only divisions with at least 100.
| CPV division | Awards with bid count | Single tender | Median tenders | Five or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 · Construction work | 356 | 7.3% | 4 | 34.6% |
| 90 · Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services | 319 | 21.6% | 3 | 18.8% |
| 79 · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security | 298 | 13.4% | 4 | 44.6% |
| 72 · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support | 297 | 24.6% | 3 | 23.2% |
| 71 · Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services | 268 | 8.6% | 5 | 58.2% |
| 33 · Medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and personal care products | 228 | 28.1% | 3 | 21.5% |
| 50 · Repair and maintenance services | 160 | 16.9% | 3 | 25.6% |
| 34 · Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation | 157 | 25.5% | 2 | 10.2% |
| 73 · Research and development services and related consultancy services | 98 | 18.4% | 4 | 38.8% |
| 38 · Laboratory, optical and precision equipment (excl. glasses) | 98 | 36.7% | 2 | 13.3% |
| 60 · Transport services (excl. Waste transport) | 97 | 27.8% | 2 | 11.3% |
| 39 · Furniture (incl. office furniture), furnishings, domestic appliances (excl. lighting) and cleaning products | 88 | 22.7% | 3 | 10.2% |
| 85 · Health and social work services | 80 | 16.3% | 4 | 48.8% |
| 80 · Education and training services | 68 | 30.9% | 3 | 27.9% |
| 48 · Software package and information systems | 66 | 27.3% | 2 | 15.2% |
| 44 · Construction structures and materials; auxiliary products to construction (except electric apparatus) | 64 | 23.4% | 2 | 10.9% |
The Nordics by CPV division
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland combined, 2024–2025. Divisions with fewer than 200 awards are not shown.
| CPV division | Awards with bid count | Single tender | Median tenders | Five or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 · Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services | 2,707 | 12.7% | 5 | 52.1% |
| 45 · Construction work | 2,539 | 10.5% | 4 | 36.5% |
| 33 · Medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and personal care products | 1,980 | 29.8% | 2 | 22.8% |
| 90 · Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services | 1,894 | 15.5% | 3 | 28.6% |
| 60 · Transport services (excl. Waste transport) | 1,777 | 10.9% | 4 | 33.5% |
| 72 · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support | 1,751 | 30.3% | 2 | 22.5% |
| 79 · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security | 1,629 | 13.4% | 4 | 40.3% |
| 34 · Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation | 1,211 | 34.8% | 2 | 10.2% |
| 50 · Repair and maintenance services | 905 | 25.5% | 3 | 21.9% |
| 85 · Health and social work services | 752 | 22.7% | 3 | 40.6% |
| 38 · Laboratory, optical and precision equipment (excl. glasses) | 713 | 56.9% | 1 | 7.0% |
| 66 · Financial and insurance services | 559 | 19.1% | 2 | 7.7% |
| 48 · Software package and information systems | 535 | 35.9% | 2 | 11.4% |
| 39 · Furniture (incl. office furniture), furnishings, domestic appliances (excl. lighting) and cleaning products | 468 | 16.7% | 3 | 21.4% |
| 44 · Construction structures and materials; auxiliary products to construction (except electric apparatus) | 442 | 24.4% | 2 | 14.9% |
| 15 · Food, beverages, tobacco and related products | 394 | 27.4% | 2 | 9.6% |
| 77 · Agricultural, forestry, horticultural, aquacultural and apicultural services | 391 | 21.5% | 3 | 25.8% |
| 98 · Other community, social and personal services | 372 | 19.1% | 3 | 26.9% |
| 31 · Electrical machinery, apparatus, equipment and consumables; lighting | 329 | 21.0% | 3 | 15.8% |
| 55 · Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services | 272 | 20.2% | 3 | 25.4% |
| 42 · Industrial machinery | 264 | 27.7% | 2 | 17.0% |
| 80 · Education and training services | 261 | 21.5% | 3 | 37.9% |
| 03 · Agricultural, farming, fishing, forestry and related products | 254 | 52.8% | 1 | 11.4% |
| 30 · Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages | 248 | 16.5% | 3 | 16.1% |
| 35 · Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment | 238 | 41.6% | 2 | 20.2% |
| 09 · Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy | 215 | 24.7% | 3 | 18.6% |
| 32 · Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment | 201 | 21.9% | 3 | 24.4% |
What this means for bidders
- A median of three tenders means that in a typical competition you are up against about two other suppliers.
- Where the single-bid share is high, a well-prepared bid has a real chance. Check first why competition is thin: narrow requirements, short deadlines or an incumbent with an advantage.
- Direct awards are almost always single-bid by design. They are not open opportunities.
- Market insights in Tenderen shows the average number of bidders per tender in your CPV codes and for a single buyer, together with recent awards and winners, so you can check the competition before you decide to bid.
Definitions
- Award notice: one contract award notice published on TED. A notice can cover several lots.
- Tenders received: the eForms field for the number of tenders received (BT-759, submission type “tenders”). When a notice covers several lots, the highest count across its lots is used.
- Single-bid award: an award notice whose highest number of tenders received in any lot is one. A notice only counts as single-bid if no lot got more than one tender, so the share is a lower bound for single-bid lots.
- CPV division: the first two digits of the first CPV code on the notice.
- Country: the buyer's country as stated on the notice.
Method
- Tenderen collects contract award notices from the TED search API for the countries it monitors and stores one row per notice.
- The study selects notices published on TED from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025 with buyer country Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Germany, the Netherlands or France.
- Notices without a reported number of tenders are left out of the bid metrics. Notices that report zero tenders are counted separately and also left out.
- Shares and medians are computed with one read-only SQL query in PostgreSQL. The query is kept with the product source code (apps/backend/scripts/research/competition-benchmark.sql) and was run on 25 October 2026.
- The result is published unchanged as JSON (download below).
Limitations
- Only TED notices are included. Most Norwegian contracts below the EEA threshold are published on Doffin alone and are not part of this study.
- Not every award notice reports the number of tenders: coverage ranges from 38.4% to 82.4% of notices by country and year. Coverage also changed between the two years (Sweden: 41.3% in 2024, 82.4% in 2025), so compare years with care.
- The index covers the countries Tenderen monitors. It is not a complete copy of TED, and other EU countries are not included.
- Bid counts are as reported by the buyer. Errors in the notices are not corrected.
- The figures count award notices, not contract value: a large framework agreement and a small service contract weigh the same.
- Iceland has few awards (under 150 a year with a bid count), so its shares move a lot from one year to the next.
Download the data
Every table on this page comes from one JSON file. Quote the figures with a link to this page.
Cite as: Tenderen (Getia AS), “How many bids does a public tender get? Competition benchmark 2024–2025”, published 25 October 2026, https://tenderen.com/en/research/competition-benchmark-2024-2025.
Frequently asked questions
- How many bids does a public tender in Norway usually get?
- In 2025, half of the Norwegian TED award notices with a reported bid count received 3 tenders or fewer, and 18.9% received only one. Contracts below the EEA threshold are published on Doffin and are not covered here, so the picture there may differ.
- What is a single-bid tender?
- A competition in which the buyer receives only one tender. The European Commission uses the share of single-bid procedures as an indicator of weak competition in public procurement.
- Can I check the competition for a specific buyer or CPV code?
- Yes. Market insights in Tenderen shows the average number of bidders per tender in your CPV codes and for a single buyer, together with recent awards and winners.
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