What we know, we know from public sources. Below are the figures that steer our work, with source and date.
In 2025 almost 12,000 tenders started on TenderNed (25,790 publications); 53% services, 26% supplies, 11% works; 98% in Dutch; October is the busiest month, August the quietest.
On average 3.4 bidders per open tender (first half of 2024), down from 4 to 5 in 2017. For works, the share with a single bidder doubled from 4% to 10%.
Of 405,520 companies with staff, 9,710 ever bid on an open tender via TenderNed between 2017 and 2021: 2.4%. Company size mainly determines whether a company takes part; once it bids, size matters far less.
SMEs win 68% of awards. When SMEs and large companies both bid, SMEs win in more than half of the cases. In sectors with many bidders the chance per bid is lower; more productive companies win more often.
Almost half of the notices publish an estimated value; the median is around €1.3 million, a quarter below €500,000. More than half state a duration.
A bid costs a company 20 to 60 hours of its own time; bureaus charge €3,000 to €15,000 per tender; software costs €80 to €500 per month.