Ink market in Europe: size, suppliers and public contracts
Market size and key facts
In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 50 supply contracts for ink through award notices on TED; the 30 of them that state a value (60%) add up to €3.17 million. EU countries together imported €5.78 billion of goods in the customs headings matched to ink in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 3215; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), down 6.6% from 2023.
- Since November 2023, 59 companies have won 144 public supply contracts for ink in 30 European countries, in 58 award notices from 42 public buyers.
- 12.5% of these awards went to a company registered in a different country from the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Switzerland.
- The five companies that win most often hold 29.9% of all awards across Europe.
- 11.3% 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, "Ink market in Europe", https://cresques.com/markets/europe/226-ink, from TED contract award notices (© European Union) and Eurostat Comext, updated 13 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
CPV group 226 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
- 144
- in 58 award notices
- Awarded value
- €12.2M
- from 56% of awards with a published value
- Winning companies
- 59
- with at least one award
- Public buyers
- 42
- hospitals, cities, agencies
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 36 |
| 2025 | 50 |
| 2026 | 57 |
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | €249.1K |
| 2024 | €2.4M |
| 2025 | €3.2M |
| 2026 | €6.3M |
- Other2
Table view
| Cities, regions and central administration | 44 |
| Police, fire services and prisons | 25 |
| Economic affairs | 25 |
| Armed forces and defence agencies | 21 |
| Hospitals and health services | 18 |
| Social protection | 5 |
| Culture, sport and religion | 2 |
| Universities, schools and research | 2 |
| Other | 2 |
- Poland4914 companies
- France2710 companies
- Germany229 companies
- Slovenia145 companies
- Czechia106 companies
- Spain97 companies
- Slovakia33 companies
- Italy32 companies
- Norway32 companies
- Austria22 companies
Table view
| Poland | 49 |
| France | 27 |
| Germany | 22 |
| Slovenia | 14 |
| Czechia | 10 |
| Spain | 9 |
| Slovakia | 3 |
| Italy | 3 |
| Norway | 3 |
| Austria | 2 |
- Large companies
- Medium-sized
- Small
- Micro
- SME (size not stated)
- Size not stated
Table view
| Large companies | 25 · 17.4% |
| Medium-sized | 25 · 17.4% |
| Small | 34 · 23.6% |
| Micro | 14 · 9.7% |
| SME (size not stated) | 28 · 19.4% |
| Size not stated | 18 · 12.5% |
- Switzerland11
- United Kingdom5
- Germany2
Table view
| Switzerland | 11 |
| United Kingdom | 5 |
| Germany | 2 |
Table view
| 2023 | €6.2B |
| 2024 | €6.1B |
| 2025 | €5.8B |
Imports: Eurostat Comext, customs headings 3215 (only headings whose trade is mainly this category); all buyers, not only public ones.
Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country
87.5%
18 awards went to companies registered elsewhere.
Share of the 5 biggest winners
29.9%
Of all awards; a high share means a concentrated market.
Lots with a single bid
11.3%
Among 141 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.
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Questions
- How big is the ink market in Europe?
- In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 50 supply contracts for ink through award notices on TED; the 30 of them that state a value (60%) add up to €3.17 million. EU countries together imported €5.78 billion of goods in the customs headings matched to ink in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 3215; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), down 6.6% from 2023.
- How many public contracts for ink are awarded in Europe?
- Since November 2023 public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 144 supply contracts for ink in 58 TED award notices; the 81 awards with a published value add up to €12.2M.
- Which countries buy the most ink through public tenders?
- Poland (49 awards), France (27 awards), Germany (22 awards) lead; 59 companies won at least one award across Europe.
- How often do foreign suppliers win ink contracts?
- 12.5% of the awards went to a company registered in another country than the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Switzerland.
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.