Single-bid procurement is common across the 37,693 tenders examined: 65% received exactly one offer. The pattern changes with contract size, with the share falling from 82% among the cheapest quarter to 31% among the most expensive quarter.
A broad participation gap
The 65% overall share describes a tender outcome, not a judgement about the buyer or the supplier. A single bid means that one offer was received in that procurement; it is a market condition and, by itself, is not evidence of impropriety. The figures point instead to a participation gap linked to contract size. For businesses, the practical reading is that a notice’s likely value can affect whether competing for it is commercially worthwhile. Bid preparation, compliance work and delivery capacity all have to be weighed against the opportunity available in the contract. The figures are shares and tender counts, not awarded values, so they should not be read as evidence that one supplier secured 65% of spending.
Larger contracts attract more bidders
The relationship is clearest at the ends of the price distribution. Exactly one bid appeared in 82% of tenders in the cheapest quarter, compared with 31% in the most expensive quarter. The median number of bids moved in the opposite direction, from 3 to 10. That supports the finding that competition improves as contracts get larger: a larger opportunity can make the fixed work of preparing and delivering a bid more worthwhile for more businesses. The middle half still had a 74% single-bid share and a median of 1 bid, while the most expensive tenth recorded 34%; that last figure sits within the most expensive quarter, so the bands should not be treated as separate groups. Contract-size bands describe advertised tender value, not awarded value.
| Contract size | Single bid | Median bids | Measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest quarter | 82% | 3 | 9,423 |
| Middle half | 74% | 1 | 18,846 |
| Most expensive quarter | 31% | 10 | 9,424 |
| Most expensive tenth | 34% | 1 | 3,770 |
Buyer counts identify where to investigate participation
The Instituto Nacional de formación Técnico Profesional recorded 1,082 tenders with one bid, well above the 445 recorded for the Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidráulicos. The Hospital Pediátrico Dr. Hugo De Mendoza (HPHM) recorded 430, Hospital Ramón de Lara FFAA recorded 421, and Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica Dominicana recorded 387. These counts identify where single-bid outcomes occurred most often among the listed buyers; they do not measure spending, supplier concentration or contract performance. Businesses can use such information to examine the notices behind a buyer’s count: contract size, qualification requirements, timing and the work required to submit a compliant offer. A repeat win or a single bid is not evidence of impropriety without further evidence.
WHY IT MATTERS
Contract size is a useful first filter for assessing competitive opportunity: the share of single-bid tenders fell as contracts became larger.
Data: Otnox — live procurement intelligence across 56 markets. Basis: 37,693 DO tenders published in the last 180 days that state both a value and a number of bids, 2026-03-16..2026-09-12.
