Retail trade services market in Europe: size, suppliers and public contracts

Market size and key facts

In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 7 supply contracts for retail trade services through award notices on TED; the 2 of them that state a value (28.6%) add up to €2.38 million, a floor rather than the full contract value.

  • Since November 2023, 14 companies have won 16 public supply contracts for retail trade services in 30 European countries, in 11 award notices from 11 public buyers.
  • 0% of these awards went to a company registered in a different country from the buyer.
  • The five companies that win most often hold 43.8% of all awards across Europe.
  • 42.9% 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, "Retail trade services market in Europe", https://cresques.com/markets/europe/559-retail-trade-services, from TED contract award notices (© European Union) and Eurostat Comext, updated 13 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

CPV group 559 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
16
in 11 award notices
Awarded value
€6.7M
from 25% of awards with a published value
Winning companies
14
with at least one award
Public buyers
11
hospitals, cities, agencies
Contracts awarded by year
Contracts awarded by year2024: 6620242025: 7720252026: 332026
Table view
Contracts awarded by year
20246
20257
20263
Awarded value by year (EUR)
Awarded value by year (EUR)2024: €0€020242025: €2.4M€2.4M20252026: €4.3M€4.3M2026
Table view
Awarded value by year (EUR)
2024€0
2025€2.4M
2026€4.3M
Who buys: contracts by buyer sector
  1. Cities, regions and central administration: 10
  2. Electricity utilities: 3
  3. Armed forces and defence agencies: 1
  4. Police, fire services and prisons: 1
  5. Culture, sport and religion: 1
Table view
Who buys: contracts by buyer sector
Cities, regions and central administration10
Electricity utilities3
Armed forces and defence agencies1
Police, fire services and prisons1
Culture, sport and religion1
Contracts by buyer country
  1. Sweden7
    7 companies
    Sweden: 7
  2. France3
    1 companies
    France: 3
  3. Hungary2
    2 companies
    Hungary: 2
  4. Ireland2
    2 companies
    Ireland: 2
  5. Germany1
    1 companies
    Germany: 1
  6. Norway1
    1 companies
    Norway: 1
Table view
Contracts by buyer country
Sweden7
France3
Hungary2
Ireland2
Germany1
Norway1
Who wins, by company size as declared in the notice
Who wins, by company size as declared in the notice: Large companies 12.5%, Small 18.8%, Micro 25%, Size not stated 43.8%Large companies: 2 (12.5%)13%Small: 3 (18.8%)19%Micro: 4 (25%)25%Size not stated: 7 (43.8%)44%
  • Large companies
  • Small
  • Micro
  • Size not stated
Table view
Who wins, by company size as declared in the notice
Large companies2 · 12.5%
Small3 · 18.8%
Micro4 · 25%
Size not stated7 · 43.8%

Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country

100%

Awards to companies registered in the buyer's own country: 100%

0 awards went to companies registered elsewhere.

Share of the 5 biggest winners

43.8%

Share of the 5 biggest winners: 43.8%

Of all awards; a high share means a concentrated market.

Lots with a single bid

42.9%

Lots with a single bid: 42.9%

Among 14 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 retail trade services market in Europe?
    In 2025, public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 7 supply contracts for retail trade services through award notices on TED; the 2 of them that state a value (28.6%) add up to €2.38 million, a floor rather than the full contract value.
    How many public contracts for retail trade services are awarded in Europe?
    Since November 2023 public buyers in 30 European countries awarded 16 supply contracts for retail trade services in 11 TED award notices; the 4 awards with a published value add up to €6.7M.
    Which countries buy the most retail trade services through public tenders?
    Sweden (7 awards), France (3 awards), Hungary (2 awards) lead; 14 companies won at least one award across Europe.
    How often do foreign suppliers win retail trade services contracts?
    0.0% of the awards went to a company registered in another country than the buyer.

    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.