How often does a public tender receive only one bid?

More often than the word tender suggests, and it varies by country more than by sector.

On the open procedure in each state, over the same months of 2026: Portugal 13.8% of concursos públicos, France 17.5% of appels d'offres ouverts, Colombia 57.9% of licitaciones públicas. Each is counted from that state's own open register, not estimated. Across the European Union as a whole, on the 571,148 lots awarded through the Official Journal in the same period, 35.9% drew a single bid, and that figure is higher because the Official Journal carries the contracts above the EU thresholds while a national register also carries the smaller ones, which are more contested. Direct awards are excluded everywhere, because there the buyer picks who bids and a single offer is the design rather than a finding.