Postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter market in Europe: size, suppliers and public contracts
Market size and key facts
In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 73 supply contracts for postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter through award notices on TED; the 40 of them that state a value (54.8%) add up to €23.7 million. EU countries together imported €266 million of goods in the customs headings matched to postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 4909; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), up 2% from 2023.
- Since November 2023, 117 companies have won 181 public supply contracts for postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter in 30 European countries, in 108 award notices from 82 public buyers.
- 7.7% of these awards went to a company registered in a different country from the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is United Kingdom.
- The five companies that win most often hold 17.1% of all awards across Europe.
- 7.8% of the awards whose notice states the number of tenders received a single bid.
In proportion
All public purchasing in the EU-27 — general government spending on goods, services and investment, the measure the OECD and the European Commission use for public procurement — came to €2.93 trillion in 2025, 15.5% of GDP (Eurostat). Award notices on TED cover only the contracts above the EU thresholds, so they show who wins, not the whole of that spending.
Source: Eurostat, government finance statistics (gov_10a_main, gov_10a_exp) and GDP (nama_10_gdp), retrieved 9 November 2026.
Updated · counted daily from contract award notices on TED and Eurostat international trade data · figures as JSON · free to quote with attribution (CC BY 4.0)
How to cite: Cresques, "Postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter market in Europe", https://cresques.com/markets/europe/223-postcards-greeting-cards-and-other-printed-matter, from TED contract award notices (© European Union) and Eurostat Comext, updated 13 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
CPV group 223 across the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein: how much public buyers award, who wins, where from, and how the market splits by country.
The market in numbers
Public supply contracts in Europe: award notices published on TED from 2023-11 to 2026-11, by publication year.
- Contracts awarded
- 181
- in 108 award notices
- Awarded value
- €77.1M
- from 50% of awards with a published value
- Winning companies
- 117
- with at least one award
- Public buyers
- 82
- hospitals, cities, agencies
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | 3 |
| 2024 | 56 |
| 2025 | 73 |
| 2026 | 49 |
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | €403.6K |
| 2024 | €15.5M |
| 2025 | €23.7M |
| 2026 | €37.4M |
- Other5
Table view
| Cities, regions and central administration | 97 |
| Universities, schools and research | 32 |
| Culture, sport and religion | 16 |
| Hospitals and health services | 12 |
| Police, fire services and prisons | 6 |
| Economic affairs | 6 |
| Environment and waste | 4 |
| Armed forces and defence agencies | 3 |
| Other | 5 |
- Ireland8139 companies
- Sweden2018 companies
- Germany107 companies
- Spain97 companies
- Belgium77 companies
- Netherlands75 companies
- Portugal71 companies
- Hungary73 companies
- France65 companies
- Finland66 companies
Table view
| Ireland | 81 |
| Sweden | 20 |
| Germany | 10 |
| Spain | 9 |
| Belgium | 7 |
| Netherlands | 7 |
| Portugal | 7 |
| Hungary | 7 |
| France | 6 |
| Finland | 6 |
- Large companies
- Medium-sized
- Small
- Micro
- SME (size not stated)
- Size not stated
Table view
| Large companies | 10 · 5.5% |
| Medium-sized | 17 · 9.4% |
| Small | 19 · 10.5% |
| Micro | 11 · 6.1% |
| SME (size not stated) | 41 · 22.7% |
| Size not stated | 83 · 45.9% |
- United Kingdom5
- Netherlands3
- Denmark3
- Germany1
- France1
- Slovakia1
Table view
| United Kingdom | 5 |
| Netherlands | 3 |
| Denmark | 3 |
| Germany | 1 |
| France | 1 |
| Slovakia | 1 |
Table view
| 2023 | €261M |
| 2024 | €271.3M |
| 2025 | €266.1M |
Imports: Eurostat Comext, customs headings 4909 (only headings whose trade is mainly this category); all buyers, not only public ones.
Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country
92.3%
14 awards went to companies registered elsewhere.
Share of the 5 biggest winners
17.1%
Of all awards; a high share means a concentrated market.
Lots with a single bid
7.8%
Among 129 awards whose notice states the number of tenders.
How we count: one award per procedure, lot and winning company, from live contract award notices; a joint procurement counts on every buyer's market. Values are the awarded amounts published in the notice (framework ceilings and estimates are never added), converted to euro at the ECB yearly average. Company size is the SME flag of the notice (eForms BT-165). Read the methodology.
Country pages
Countries with fewer than 25 winning companies in this group have no separate page; their awards are counted above.
Watch this market
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Pick a country and see who wins there
A Cresques market map for one country and this category shows the companies that win these contracts there: how often, for how many buyers and for how much, and whether the leading ones are distributors or manufacturers.
Choose a country for this category — freeFree account, no card: one market map, showing the first 5 companies with their contract awards. Paid plans show every company.
After sign-in the new-market form opens with Postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter filled in; you choose the country.
Questions
- How big is the postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter market in Europe?
- In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 73 supply contracts for postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter through award notices on TED; the 40 of them that state a value (54.8%) add up to €23.7 million. EU countries together imported €266 million of goods in the customs headings matched to postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 4909; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), up 2% from 2023.
- How many public contracts for postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter are awarded in Europe?
- Since November 2023 public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 181 supply contracts for postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter in 108 TED award notices; the 91 awards with a published value add up to €77.1M.
- Which countries buy the most postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter through public tenders?
- Ireland (81 awards), Sweden (20 awards), Germany (10 awards) lead; 117 companies won at least one award across Europe.
- How often do foreign suppliers win postcards, greeting cards and other printed matter contracts?
- 7.7% of the awards went to a company registered in another country than the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is United Kingdom.
Source: contract award notices on TED — Tenders Electronic Daily (ted.europa.eu), © European Union, published since November 2023; processed by Cresques. Numbers updated 2026-11-13.