Government procurement statistics
How big is the government market, how heavy is the proposal workload, and how thin is the competition once you find the right bids? These are the questions every contractor asks me. Here is how I answer them: with figures you can check, not numbers I made up.
I cite every number I publish. Where a figure is backed by a confirmed source, it links to the reference. Where a figure is still being verified against its primary source, you will see a clear "source pending" marker instead of a guess.
That is deliberate. Government procurement is full of round numbers that get repeated until they sound official. I will not pad this page with figures I cannot stand behind.
Research highlights
The squeeze contractors actually feel
The hard evidence is not about finding more bids. It is about how thin the staffing is to chase them, and how often competition is weaker than it looks.
78% of construction firms say estimating roles are hard to fill, among the toughest salaried positions to staff.
Source: 2024 Workforce Survey, 2024 reference
94% of construction firms report having a hard time filling open positions.
Source: 2024 Workforce Survey, 2024 reference
Single-bid awards are common enough to be tracked as a market-health metric: the EU rates any market where more than 20% of contracts draw a single bid as underperforming.
Source: Single Market Scoreboard, Public procurement, 2024 reference
Sources & citations
- 78% of construction firms say estimating roles are hard to fill, among the toughest salaried positions to staff. 2024 Workforce Survey, 2024. Link
- 94% of construction firms report having a hard time filling open positions. 2024 Workforce Survey, 2024. Link
- Single-bid awards are common enough to be tracked as a market-health metric: the EU rates any market where more than 20% of contracts draw a single bid as underperforming. Single Market Scoreboard, Public procurement, 2024. Link
By the numbers
Market size
Annual U.S. federal contract spending
The size of the federal market your competitors are already bidding (FY2023 obligations).
Source: U.S. GAO, government-wide contracting snapshot, FY2023
Annual U.S. state, local & education procurement
State and local buyers issue far more contracts by count than the federal government.
Annual Canadian public procurement
Federal, provincial and municipal spending combined, roughly 10-13% of GDP.
By the numbers
Why no single team can watch it all
Public procurement as a share of GDP (OECD avg.)
Public procurement is a structurally huge, permanent market across developed economies.
Procurement platforms I monitor for clients
Each jurisdiction can add another portal, login and notification setting, I watch them so you don't.
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