Explosives market in Europe: size, suppliers and public contracts
Market size and key facts
In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 55 supply contracts for explosives through award notices on TED; the 46 of them that state a value (83.6%) add up to €15.4 million. EU countries together imported €1.97 billion of goods in the customs headings matched to explosives in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 3601, 3604, 3603 and 3602; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), up 43.5% from 2023.
- Since November 2023, 70 companies have won 195 public supply contracts for explosives in 30 European countries, in 95 award notices from 48 public buyers.
- 2.6% of these awards went to a company registered in a different country from the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Czechia.
- The five companies that win most often hold 32.8% of all awards across Europe.
- 70.6% 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, "Explosives market in Europe", https://cresques.com/markets/europe/246-explosives, from TED contract award notices (© European Union) and Eurostat Comext, updated 13 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
CPV group 246 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
- 195
- in 95 award notices
- Awarded value
- €225.7M
- from 73% of awards with a published value
- Winning companies
- 70
- with at least one award
- Public buyers
- 48
- hospitals, cities, agencies
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 71 |
| 2025 | 55 |
| 2026 | 68 |
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | €433.9K |
| 2024 | €81.5M |
| 2025 | €15.4M |
| 2026 | €128.4M |
- Other2
Table view
| Armed forces and defence agencies | 73 |
| Hospitals and health services | 41 |
| Cities, regions and central administration | 27 |
| Police, fire services and prisons | 24 |
| Coal and solid fuels | 24 |
| Environment and waste | 2 |
| Social protection | 1 |
| Housing and community amenities | 1 |
| Other | 2 |
- Poland7920 companies
- Spain268 companies
- Sweden177 companies
- Romania163 companies
- Slovakia121 companies
- Czechia115 companies
- Italy106 companies
- France66 companies
- Norway53 companies
- Germany44 companies
Table view
| Poland | 79 |
| Spain | 26 |
| Sweden | 17 |
| Romania | 16 |
| Slovakia | 12 |
| Czechia | 11 |
| Italy | 10 |
| France | 6 |
| Norway | 5 |
| Germany | 4 |
- Large companies
- Medium-sized
- Small
- Micro
- SME (size not stated)
- Size not stated
Table view
| Large companies | 67 · 34.4% |
| Medium-sized | 10 · 5.1% |
| Small | 17 · 8.7% |
| Micro | 1 · 0.5% |
| SME (size not stated) | 10 · 5.1% |
| Size not stated | 90 · 46.2% |
- Czechia1
- Germany1
- Finland1
- France1
- United States1
Table view
| Czechia | 1 |
| Germany | 1 |
| Finland | 1 |
| France | 1 |
| United States | 1 |
Table view
| 2023 | €1.4B |
| 2024 | €1.6B |
| 2025 | €2B |
Imports: Eurostat Comext, customs headings 3601, 3604, 3603, 3602 (only headings whose trade is mainly this category); all buyers, not only public ones.
Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country
97.4%
5 awards went to companies registered elsewhere.
Share of the 5 biggest winners
32.8%
Of all awards; a high share means a concentrated market.
Lots with a single bid
70.6%
Among 177 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.
Companies winning most often across Europe
- 1.Nitroerg S.A.Poland · 10 notices
- 2.PYRA, spol. s r.o.Slovakia · 10 notices
Companies with a public page whose main category is this group, by award notices; a market map in Cresques covers one country and, on paid plans, lists every winner there.
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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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.
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Questions
- How big is the explosives market in Europe?
- In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 55 supply contracts for explosives through award notices on TED; the 46 of them that state a value (83.6%) add up to €15.4 million. EU countries together imported €1.97 billion of goods in the customs headings matched to explosives in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 3601, 3604, 3603 and 3602; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), up 43.5% from 2023.
- How many public contracts for explosives are awarded in Europe?
- Since November 2023 public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 195 supply contracts for explosives in 95 TED award notices; the 142 awards with a published value add up to €225.7M.
- Which countries buy the most explosives through public tenders?
- Poland (79 awards), Spain (26 awards), Sweden (17 awards) lead; 70 companies won at least one award across Europe.
- How often do foreign suppliers win explosives contracts?
- 2.6% of the awards went to a company registered in another country than the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Czechia.
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.