Business services and IT top the table — transport and auxiliary logistics sit at the bottom
The single most striking finding from Belgium's first Tender Competitiveness Index is the gulf between the top and bottom of the ranking. Business services (CPV division 79 — covering law, marketing, consulting, and recruitment) and IT services (CPV 72) both score 94 out of 100, driven by average bid counts of 7.83 and 8.48 respectively, single-bid rates below 15%, and winner pools so broad that the top five suppliers account for less than 9% of awarded contract value. At the other end, supporting and auxiliary transport services (CPV 63) scores just 30, with 44.2% of contracts attracting only a single bid and the top five winners capturing 95.4% of reported contract value.
What the index measures
The Belgian Tender Competitiveness Index assigns each CPV division (the EU's Common Procurement Vocabulary classification system, used to categorise contracts by subject matter) a score from 0 to 100. The composite is built from three components: average bidder count per award (weight: 45%, capped at eight bidders to prevent outliers from distorting the score); the inverse of the single-bid share (30% — a high proportion of uncontested awards pulls the score down); and the inverse of the value share held by the top five winners (25% — high concentration signals a market where a small number of suppliers dominate). All figures are drawn from TED (EU Tenders Electronic Daily), the official journal of EU public procurement notices, covering Belgian contracting authorities (public bodies that issue tenders) across all recorded years in the dataset.
Coverage limitations
Bid-count data is not universally reported. Coverage varies by sector: most divisions exceed 95% of awards with a reported bid count, but construction work (CPV 45) stands at 89.8% and installation services (CPV 51) at 95.1%. Scores for smaller sectors — such as agricultural products (CPV 03, 41 awards) and real estate services (CPV 70, 13 awards) — should be read with caution given the limited sample sizes. All coverage percentages are stated in the sector table below.
The competitive tier (scores 74–94)
Five sectors sit above 70. Alongside business services and IT, architectural and engineering services (CPV 71) scores 91 — 776 awards recorded, 9.1% single-bid rate, and a top-five value share of just 6.7%. Food, beverages, and tobacco (CPV 15) scores 87, with a healthy average of 6.93 bids per award across 428 recorded contracts. Construction work (CPV 45) scores 74, the lowest in this tier; its average of 4.81 bids and a top-five value share of 20.8% reflect a market that is competitive by volume but more concentrated by value than the service sectors above it.
The middle ground (scores 40–68)
A wide band of sectors clusters between 40 and 68. Sewage, refuse, and environmental services (CPV 90) scores 68 but carries a 15.8% single-bid rate and an average of only 4.06 bids. Research and development services (CPV 73) also scores 68, yet its 34.5% single-bid rate — the highest among mid-table sectors — signals that a substantial share of R&D contracts go uncontested. Education and training (CPV 80) scores 64, with 22.6% of awards drawing just one bid. Financial and insurance services (CPV 66) scores 42, with an average of just 2.03 bids per award and 32.2% single-bid contracts across 289 recorded awards.
The least contested markets (scores below 40)
Four sectors fall below 40. Laboratory, optical, and precision equipment (CPV 38) scores 36: nearly half of all awards (45.9%) attracted only one bid, based on 246 recorded contracts at 97.6% coverage. Administration, defence, and social security services (CPV 75) scores 31, with a top-five value share of 95.8% across 40 recorded awards. Supporting and auxiliary transport services (CPV 63) scores 30 — the lowest in the index — combining a 44.2% single-bid rate with a 95.4% top-five value concentration across 43 fully covered awards.
Sector competitiveness table
| Rank | Sector | Score | Avg bids | Single-bid % | Top-5 value % | Awards (coverage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business services (CPV 79) | 94 | 7.83 | 9.7% | 6.9% | 1,334 (99.3%) |
| 1 | IT services (CPV 72) | 94 | 8.48 | 14.0% | 8.2% | 1,186 (99.2%) |
| 3 | Architectural & engineering (CPV 71) | 91 | 7.18 | 9.1% | 6.7% | 776 (93.7%) |
| 4 | Food, beverages & tobacco (CPV 15) | 87 | 6.93 | 10.5% | 16.5% | 428 (99.5%) |
| 5 | Construction work (CPV 45) | 74 | 4.81 | 10.7% | 20.8% | 858 (89.8%) |
| 6 | Telecom equipment (CPV 32) | 69 | 4.71 | 5.4% | 43.7% | 148 (95.5%) |
| 7 | Environmental services (CPV 90) | 68 | 4.06 | 15.8% | 18.8% | 780 (99.6%) |
| 7 | R&D services (CPV 73) | 68 | 5.53 | 34.5% | 31.8% | 417 (99.0%) |
| 9 | Education & training (CPV 80) | 64 | 3.87 | 22.6% | 22.0% | 235 (99.6%) |
| 10 | Community & social services (CPV 98) | 60 | 3.00 | 17.0% | 29.1% | 88 (98.9%) |
| 10 | Agricultural & forestry services (CPV 77) | 60 | 3.81 | 23.4% | 39.5% | 308 (97.5%) |
| 12 | Chemical products (CPV 24) | 59 | 3.27 | 21.9% | 31.0% | 64 (98.5%) |
| 13 | Security & defence equipment (CPV 35) | 58 | 3.10 | 27.6% | 26.6% | 116 (99.1%) |
| 14 | Agricultural products (CPV 03) | 57 | 3.37 | 24.4% | 37.3% | 41 (100%) |
| 14 | Printed matter (CPV 22) | 57 | 2.98 | 19.5% | 35.8% | 82 (100%) |
| 14 | Recreational & cultural services (CPV 92) | 57 | 4.43 | 30.3% | 56.8% | 76 (98.7%) |
| 14 | Medical & pharmaceutical (CPV 33) | 57 | 2.93 | 21.2% | 33.9% | 808 (97.0%) |
| 18 | Clothing & footwear (CPV 18) | 56 | 3.51 | 20.8% | 51.2% | 130 (100%) |
| 18 | Hotel & catering services (CPV 55) | 56 | 3.05 | 16.3% | 44.0% | 80 (97.6%) |
| 20 | CPV division 16 | 55 | 4.17 | 11.1% | 78.9% | 18 (100%) |
| 20 | Electrical machinery (CPV 31) | 55 | 3.08 | 19.9% | 44.0% | 171 (99.4%) |
| 22 | Furniture & furnishings (CPV 39) | 53 | 3.70 | 15.4% | 74.4% | 246 (99.2%) |
| 22 | Office machinery (CPV 30) | 53 | 3.12 | 23.0% | 50.4% | 191 (98.5%) |
| 22 | Software & information systems (CPV 48) | 53 | 2.67 | 30.9% | 31.8% | 246 (96.1%) |
| 25 | Construction materials (CPV 44) | 50 | 2.35 | 31.5% | 35.6% | 162 (99.4%) |
| 25 | Transport equipment (CPV 34) | 50 | 2.83 | 27.2% | 50.4% | 401 (99.8%) |
| 27 | Petroleum & energy (CPV 09) | 49 | 2.85 | 22.4% | 60.4% | 116 (99.1%) |
| 28 | CPV division 19 | 48 | 2.19 | 19.4% | 52.0% | 36 (100%) |
| 29 | Musical instruments & sport goods (CPV 37) | 47 | 2.90 | 20.0% | 72.0% | 20 (100%) |
| 30 | Health & social work services (CPV 85) | 46 | 2.38 | 38.5% | 44.8% | 104 (98.1%) |
| 30 | Repair & maintenance (CPV 50) | 46 | 2.28 | 33.8% | 46.7% | 373 (99.2%) |
| 32 | Industrial machinery (CPV 42) | 43 | 2.23 | 33.1% | 58.4% | 133 (96.4%) |
| 33 | Financial & insurance services (CPV 66) | 42 | 2.03 | 32.2% | 58.5% | 289 (99.7%) |
| 34 | Installation services (CPV 51) | 41 | 2.67 | 38.5% | 69.4% | 39 (95.1%) |
| 35 | Real estate services (CPV 70) | 40 | 2.54 | 30.8% | 78.8% | 13 (100%) |
| 35 | Transport services (CPV 60) | 40 | 2.48 | 24.0% | 86.6% | 129 (99.2%) |
| 37 | Postal & telecom services (CPV 64) | 38 | 2.08 | 39.4% | 66.1% | 71 (98.6%) |
| 38 | Laboratory & precision equipment (CPV 38) | 36 | 2.12 | 45.9% | 66.8% | 246 (97.6%) |
| 39 | Administration & defence services (CPV 75) | 31 | 2.05 | 37.5% | 95.8% | 40 (97.6%) |
| 40 | Auxiliary transport services (CPV 63) | 30 | 2.14 | 44.2% | 95.4% | 43 (100%) |
Source: TED (EU Tenders Electronic Daily), Belgian contracting authorities, all recorded years. Scores are composite indices; see methodology note above.