Pharmaceutical products market in Europe: size, suppliers and public contracts
Market size and key facts
In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 223,404 supply contracts for pharmaceutical products through award notices on TED; the 131,405 of them that state a value (58.8%) add up to €27.1 billion. EU countries together imported €404 billion of goods in the customs headings matched to pharmaceutical products in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 3004, 3002, 3822 and 3003; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), up 14.5% from 2023.
- Since November 2023, 7,116 companies have won 688,679 public supply contracts for pharmaceutical products in 30 European countries, in 44,810 award notices from 2,932 public buyers.
- 0.8% of these awards went to a company registered in a different country from the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Hungary.
- The five companies that win most often hold 25.5% of all awards across Europe.
- 31% 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.
General government spending on goods, services and investment for health in the EU-27 came to €949 billion in 2024 (Eurostat, COFOG). How much of it reaches suppliers through tenders depends on how the country organises the sector — for example whether statutory health insurance is classified in government.
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, "Pharmaceutical products market in Europe", https://cresques.com/markets/europe/336-pharmaceutical-products, from TED contract award notices (© European Union) and Eurostat Comext, updated 13 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
What industry and official reports say
- EFPIA puts the European pharmaceutical market at €302 billion at ex-factory prices in 2024, with €330 billion estimated for 2025. EFPIA, The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures – Key Data 2026
- Medicines for Europe reports that generic medicines account for 70% of treatment volume in Europe (2023). Medicines for Europe, Press release: Generic medicines: 70% of dispensed medicines and critical to healthcare
- Eurostat puts current healthcare expenditure in the EU at €1,720 billion in 2023, 10.0% of GDP; medical goods took 17.8% of it. Eurostat, Healthcare expenditure statistics - overview (Statistics Explained)
Figures from the publishers named, checked at the source on 9 November 2026. They measure the whole market (all buyers, different price bases and country scopes), so they are not comparable one-to-one with the public contract counts on this page.
CPV group 336 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
- 688.7K
- in 44.8K award notices
- Awarded value
- €75B
- from 56% of awards with a published value
- Winning companies
- 7.1K
- with at least one award
- Public buyers
- 2.9K
- hospitals, cities, agencies
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | 2,599 |
| 2024 | 148,091 |
| 2025 | 223,404 |
| 2026 | 314,585 |
Table view
| Nov–Dec 2023 | €268.3M |
| 2024 | €19B |
| 2025 | €27B |
| 2026 | €29B |
- Social protection2,270
- Other310
Table view
| Hospitals and health services | 644,178 |
| Police, fire services and prisons | 18,683 |
| Cities, regions and central administration | 12,955 |
| Universities, schools and research | 6,501 |
| Social protection | 2,270 |
| Armed forces and defence agencies | 1,622 |
| Environment and waste | 1,430 |
| Economic affairs | 729 |
| Other | 310 |
- Romania406,361493 companies
- Poland127,045909 companies
- Croatia66,297114 companies
- Germany14,167605 companies
- Spain10,615720 companies
- Bulgaria10,402182 companies
- Czechia8,877268 companies
- France8,1451,142 companies
- Lithuania7,209192 companies
- Estonia5,092110 companies
Table view
| Romania | 406,361 |
| Poland | 127,045 |
| Croatia | 66,297 |
| Germany | 14,167 |
| Spain | 10,615 |
| Bulgaria | 10,402 |
| Czechia | 8,877 |
| France | 8,145 |
| Lithuania | 7,209 |
| Estonia | 5,092 |
- Large companies
- Medium-sized
- Small
- Micro
- SME (size not stated)
- Size not stated
Table view
| Large companies | 373,889 · 54.3% |
| Medium-sized | 114,463 · 16.6% |
| Small | 23,424 · 3.4% |
| Micro | 3,321 · 0.5% |
| SME (size not stated) | 29,172 · 4.2% |
| Size not stated | 144,410 · 21% |
- Hungary1,997
- Sweden999
- Denmark371
- Netherlands355
- Germany297
- Switzerland215
Table view
| Hungary | 1,997 |
| Sweden | 999 |
| Denmark | 371 |
| Netherlands | 355 |
| Germany | 297 |
| Switzerland | 215 |
Table view
| 2023 | €353B |
| 2024 | €368B |
| 2025 | €404B |
Imports: Eurostat Comext, customs headings 3004, 3002, 3822, 3003 (only headings whose trade is mainly this category); all buyers, not only public ones.
Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country
99.2%
5,540 awards went to companies registered elsewhere.
Share of the 5 biggest winners
25.5%
Of all awards; a high share means a concentrated market.
Lots with a single bid
31%
Among 639.6K 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.Urtica Sp. z o.o.Poland · 6049 notices
- 2.Bialmed Sp. z o.o.Poland · 4911 notices
- 3.Salus International Sp. z o.o.Poland · 4567 notices
- 4.Asclepios S.A.Poland · 4557 notices
- 5.Farmacol-Logistyka Sp. z o.o.Poland · 3800 notices
- 6.Neuca S.A.Poland · 2398 notices
- 7.Fresenius Kabi Polska Sp. z o.o.Poland · 2179 notices
- 8.Baxter Polska Sp. z o.o.Poland · 2172 notices
- 9.Tramco Sp. z o.o.Poland · 1993 notices
- 10.Centrala Farmaceutyczna CEFARM S.A.Poland · 1917 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
- Romania406,361
- Poland127,045
- Croatia66,297
- Germany14,167
- Spain10,615
- Bulgaria10,402
- Czechia8,877
- France8,145
- Lithuania7,209
- Estonia5,092
- Italy4,349
- Denmark3,386
- Slovenia2,524
- Portugal2,434
- Hungary2,098
- Latvia1,738
- Sweden1,552
- Slovakia1,499
- Belgium1,446
- Cyprus984
- Greece942
- Finland715
- Ireland321
- Iceland164
- Norway134
- Austria129
- Luxembourg64
- Netherlands61
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Questions
- How big is the pharmaceutical products market in Europe?
- In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 223,404 supply contracts for pharmaceutical products through award notices on TED; the 131,405 of them that state a value (58.8%) add up to €27.1 billion. EU countries together imported €404 billion of goods in the customs headings matched to pharmaceutical products in 2025 (Eurostat Comext, HS 3004, 3002, 3822 and 3003; sum of national imports, trade between EU countries included; all buyers, not only public ones), up 14.5% from 2023.
- How many public contracts for pharmaceutical products are awarded in Europe?
- Since November 2023 public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 688,679 supply contracts for pharmaceutical products in 44,810 TED award notices; the 388,711 awards with a published value add up to €75B.
- Which countries buy the most pharmaceutical products through public tenders?
- Romania (406,361 awards), Poland (127,045 awards), Croatia (66,297 awards) lead; 7,116 companies won at least one award across Europe.
- How often do foreign suppliers win pharmaceutical products contracts?
- 0.8% of the awards went to a company registered in another country than the buyer; the most frequent foreign origin is Hungary.
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.