Most procurements involve construction work

Over a thousand Swedish contracting authorities and entities publish almost 19,000 public procurements during one year. On average, tenders from 4.4 tenderers are submitted in each procurement procedure. This is shown in a new report on procurement statistics from the Swedish Competition Authority.

The most common procurements involve works contracts. No less than 40 per cent of the public procurements published relate to construction or civil engineering works.

Recent statistics about public procurement are presented in a new report from the Swedish Competition Authority, Siffror och fakta om offentlig upphandling [Facts and Figures about Public Procurement].

The number of tenderers varies between the different product areas. On average, procurements for Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services attract the highest number of tenderers (an average of 6.4 tenderers per procurement). However, a high number of tenderers do not necessary mean tough competition, as several tenderers may be awarded a contract. On average, 39 per cent of the tenderers in a procurement procedure win a contract.

Seven per cent of published procurements are reviewed by an administrative court. Reviews are most common in sectors such as Food, beverages, tobacco and related products, and Postal and telecommunications services.
The Swedish Competition Authority has on several occasions pointed out that the quality of the statistics compiled is insufficient for following up and analyse public procurement. The Swedish Competition Authority has therefore proposed a new method for the collection of procurement statistics based on data from publication databases. The new report presents for the first time full-year statistics based on such information.

“It is important to develop statistics that make it possible to determine when and whether public procurements result in competition and whether various instruments produce the intended effect. The statistics we present in this report should be viewed as a minimum level for what procurement statistics should contain, but there is still significant potential for future improvement,” says Dan Sjöblom, Director-General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

For additional information, contact:
Stefan Jönsson, Senior Advisor , tel. +46 8 700 15 95
Kerstin Riese, Senior Information Officer, tel. +46 8 700 16 58