Which Countries Publish the Most Government Tenders?

Governments worldwide spend roughly $13 trillion on procurement each year — about 12–15% of global GDP. But not all countries publish tenders at the same rate. Some publish hundreds of thousands of notices each year on open, searchable portals. Others keep most procurement behind closed doors. Here’s what the data shows.

The global picture: procurement as a share of GDP

According to OECD data, government procurement accounts for an average of 12.9% of GDP across OECD countries, and about 29% of total government spending. That share varies dramatically by country. The Netherlands spends over 20% of GDP on procurement. South Korea and Japan sit around 8–9%. The difference reflects both policy choices and how much each government outsources rather than delivers directly.

For businesses looking for opportunities, the percentage matters less than the absolute volume of published, searchable tenders. A country that spends 15% of GDP on procurement but publishes nothing online is less useful than one that spends 10% but lists every contract on a public portal.

The top 10 countries by published tender volume

Ranking countries by raw number of tender notices published annually on official portals gives a clear picture of where the most opportunity is accessible. These numbers come from official portal statistics, open contracting data, and our own tracking across 80+ portals.

Important caveat: These are notices published on central government portals. Many countries also have state, provincial, and municipal procurement that is published separately or not at all. India’s true number, including all state e-procurement portals, may exceed a million notices per year.

Europe: 700,000+ notices through one portal

The EU’s Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) is the world’s largest single procurement portal. It publishes over 700,000 contract notices per year from all 27 EU member states, plus EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and some accession candidates.

Within the EU, the biggest publishers by volume are France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain. These five countries account for more than half of all TED notices. The EU’s procurement rules (the Public Procurement Directives) require all contracts above threshold values to be published on TED, making it one of the most transparent procurement systems in the world.

For businesses outside the EU, GPA (Government Procurement Agreement) membership means many EU tenders are open to bidders from the US, UK, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and other GPA signatories. In practice, language barriers and local knowledge requirements mean cross-border EU bidding is most common in large infrastructure, IT, and consulting contracts.

India: the fastest-growing procurement market

India’s Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has grown at an extraordinary rate since its launch in 2016. In FY2024–25, GeM crossed £5 lakh crore (about $60 billion) in gross merchandise value, making it one of the world’s largest public procurement platforms by transaction value.

But GeM is only part of the picture. India’s Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) at eprocure.gov.in handles higher-value central government tenders. Each of India’s 28 states and 8 union territories runs its own e-procurement portal. Add in defence procurement (through the Ministry of Defence), railways (IREPS), and public-sector undertaking portals, and India likely publishes more individual tender notices than any other single country.

For foreign businesses, India’s “Make in India” policy and local content requirements are important considerations. Many tenders give preference to goods and services with domestic value addition. However, for sectors where India lacks domestic capacity — specialised equipment, advanced technology, defence systems — international bidders are actively sought.

United States: the biggest spender

The US federal government awarded $773.68 billion in contracts in fiscal year 2024, making it by far the world’s largest government buyer by value. Federal opportunities are published on SAM.gov (formerly FedBizOpps and FPDS).

What makes the US unusual is the scale of its small business programme. The federal government has a statutory target of awarding 23% of contract dollars to small businesses, with sub-goals for disadvantaged businesses (5%), women-owned (5%), service-disabled veterans (3%), and HUBZone businesses (3%). These set-asides create protected competition where only qualifying small businesses can bid.

State and local procurement in the US is fragmented across thousands of separate systems. There is no single portal for all US procurement. This fragmentation is both a challenge (hard to search) and an opportunity (less competition, as many businesses only monitor one or two portals).

The transparency gap: where procurement is hidden

Not all $13 trillion in global procurement is visible. Many countries publish only a fraction of their spending as searchable tender notices. There are broadly three tiers of transparency:

High transparency

EU countries, UK, US, Australia, South Korea, Canada, and New Zealand publish virtually all procurement above relatively low thresholds. These countries have strong freedom-of-information laws, independent audit bodies, and mature e-procurement systems. They account for about 60% of global procurement by value.

Medium transparency

India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, and many ASEAN countries publish central government tenders on official portals but may have gaps at sub-national levels, in defence procurement, or in state-owned enterprises. Transparency is improving rapidly in this group, driven by e-procurement adoption and international trade agreements.

Low transparency

Many countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Africa publish limited procurement information online. Some have no public portal at all. In these markets, opportunities are typically learned through local networks, embassies, trade missions, or specialised databases. China’s procurement system is large (estimated $1 trillion+) but navigating it as a foreign business requires in-country partners and Mandarin-language capability.

Why this matters: The biggest procurement markets by spend aren’t always the biggest by accessible opportunity. A country that publishes 200,000 searchable tenders per year presents more actionable opportunity than one with twice the budget that publishes nothing.

Emerging hotspots: where tender volumes are growing fastest

Several countries are rapidly increasing their procurement transparency, creating new opportunities for alert businesses:

• Saudi Arabia: Vision 2030 is driving massive infrastructure and diversification spending. The Etimad platform and NUPCO (healthcare) are publishing increasing volumes of tenders. Defence and energy mega-projects are attracting global bidders.
• UAE: Dubai and Abu Dhabi procurement portals are modernising rapidly. The Tawazun programme (defence offset) and ADNOC’s vendor portal create entry points for international suppliers.
• Indonesia: The LPSE (Layanan Pengadaan Secara Elektronik) system is expanding coverage. Indonesia’s infrastructure push — new capital city, ports, toll roads — is generating tens of thousands of new tenders annually.
• Nigeria: The Bureau of Public Procurement is digitising federal procurement through the BPP portal. State-level procurement is following.
• Kenya: The PPRA portal and IFMIS system are publishing increasing volumes. East African Community integration is opening cross-border opportunities.
• Vietnam: Rapid industrialisation is driving procurement growth. The muasamcong.mpi.gov.vn portal is expanding in scope and accessibility.

What drives tender volume: four factors

Why do some countries publish far more tenders than others of similar size? Four factors explain most of the variation:

1. Legal requirements. Countries with procurement laws that mandate publication at low thresholds naturally produce more notices. The EU requires publication of all contracts above €140,000 (goods/services) and €5.4 million (works). India’s rules push publication down to quite small contracts through GeM. Countries without mandatory publication rules may only list very large projects.

2. E-procurement maturity. Countries with well-built digital procurement systems publish more simply because it’s easy. South Korea’s KONEPS was one of the first fully digital systems (launched 2002) and processes virtually all government purchasing electronically. Countries still using paper-based procurement naturally publish less.

3. Government size and structure. Federal systems with many buying entities (US, India, Australia, Germany) generate more individual tender notices than centralised systems. A single French ministry might run one large framework; the equivalent in India could be 30 state-level tenders.

4. Anti-corruption pressure. Countries with strong civil-society oversight and open-government commitments tend to publish more. The Open Contracting Partnership has worked with 50+ governments to improve procurement transparency, and their data shows a clear link between open contracting adoption and published tender volumes.

How to use this data to find opportunities

Knowing where tenders are published in volume helps you focus your search effort. Practical advice for businesses looking at government procurement internationally:

• Start with your home market. If you’re in the UK, you already know the language, the system, and the expectations. Win domestic contracts first, then expand.
• Follow the portals, not the agents. Many countries charge nothing to search their official portals. Paying a middleman to search for you only makes sense once you know what you’re looking for.
• Check GPA membership. If your country is a WTO Government Procurement Agreement signatory, you have legal rights to bid on covered procurement in other GPA countries. That includes the EU, US, UK, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Australia — the biggest markets.
• Monitor volume, not just value. A country publishing 10,000 small tenders per month may offer more wins for an SME than one publishing 100 mega-projects. Volume means more at-bats.
• Watch the emerging markets. Countries digitising their procurement systems are creating opportunities that established competitors haven’t noticed yet. Early movers build relationships before the market gets crowded.