Danish public bodies buy nearly DKK 470 billion a year from private suppliers. This guide explains where tenders are published (udbud.dk and TED), which rules apply above and below the 2026–2027 thresholds, who the big buyers are, and how to bid.
By TenderRadar Team
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From udbud.dk and TED. Counts refresh hourly; overlapping sources are not double-counted.
See the ones that fit youDanish public bodies spent nearly DKK 470 billion (about €63 billion) with private suppliers in 2024, around 16% of GDP, according to the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (KFST). Buyers include central government agencies, five regions that run the hospitals, 98 municipalities and public-law bodies such as universities and utilities. SKI and Økonomistyrelsen run framework agreements, and Amgros buys medicines for the regions. Danish buyers published about 2,600 EU-level tenders worth roughly DKK 215 billion in 2022. Two shifts matter now: defense purchasing has surged since 2025, and on 1 January 2027 Region Hovedstaden and Region Sjælland merge into Region Østdanmark. In September 2026 TenderRadar recorded 172 new Danish contract notices on TED.
DKK ~470 billion (2024)
Annual procurement value
~16% (2024)
Share of GDP
210
Open Danish tenders on TED
TenderRadar count on 6 October 2026
32
Open notices on udbud.dk
TenderRadar count on 6 October 2026. Many udbud.dk notices are copies of TED notices, so the two figures overlap and should not be added together
172
New Danish contract notices on TED
Published in September 2026 (TenderRadar data)
Construction (12%)
Largest category of open tenders
Then financial and insurance services 10%, cleaning, waste and environmental services 9%, medical equipment and pharma 8%, architecture and engineering 8% (CPV divisions, TenderRadar data, October 2026)
DTU (8 open tenders)
Most active buyer
Followed by Region Nordjylland (7); Region Midtjylland, Amgros and Region Syddanmark (6 each); and the defense acquisition agency FMI/DALO (5). TenderRadar data, 6 October 2026
Source: Tender Radar analysis of TED and national portal data, October 6, 2026.
Since 1 January 2026 the EU thresholds are DKK 1,044,400 (€140,000) for central government supplies and services, DKK 1,611,360 (€216,000) for regions, municipalities and other sub-central buyers, and DKK 40,313,840 (€5,404,000) for works. All three are slightly lower than in 2024–2025, so marginally smaller contracts now need an EU-wide tender on TED.
Official sourceIn February 2025 the government and the parties behind the defense agreement created a DKK 50 billion Acceleration Fund for 2025–2026, plus DKK 70 billion for 2027–2033 to cover follow-on costs. The government also decided that the defense acquisition agency FMI (DALO) should buy materiel by direct award rather than by EU tender, so many defense contracts never appear as open notices.
Official sourceEU-level tenders follow Udbudsloven (the Public Procurement Act), which transposes Directive 2014/24/EU and applies at or above the EU thresholds. Separate executive orders transpose the utilities, concessions and defense directives. Below the thresholds Denmark has national rules: goods and services contracts with a clear cross-border interest must be advertised (on udbud.dk from DKK 100,000, Part IV of the Act), contracts without such interest worth DKK 500,000 or more must be bought on market terms (Part V), and works contracts fall under tilbudsloven. EU tenders are run electronically and use the ESPD. Complaints go to Klagenævnet for Udbud (the Complaints Board for Public Procurement). A 2026 bill to abolish tilbudsloven lapsed with the March 2026 election, so these rules are unchanged.
Key authority: Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen (KFST), the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority
Denmark's national procurement portal, run by KFST, and the single place to search all Danish EU tenders (imported from TED) together with national notices. Since 1 July 2022 buyers must advertise goods and services contracts with a clear cross-border interest worth DKK 100,000 or more here (an EU notice on TED also counts), and ministries post the purchases they expect to make in the coming year. Searching is free; log in with MitID, a foreign eID, or a username and password to save search agents (udbudsagenter) that email new matches daily, weekly or as they appear. udbud.dk does not send EU notices to TED and hosts no tender documents. TenderRadar ingests udbud.dk notices alongside TED.
Visit portalThe EU's official tender journal, where every Danish contract at or above the EU thresholds must be published, including the framework tenders of SKI and Amgros and the regions' hospital tenders. Free to search; documents sit in the buyer's e-tendering system linked from each notice. TenderRadar monitors all Danish TED notices (210 open on 6 October 2026).
Visit portalCommercial e-tendering platform used by many Danish buyers to publish documents and receive bids. The City of Copenhagen, for example, runs its tenders on Mercell, and bidders can access the material free of charge. EU-Supply's CTM system, owned by Mercell, is also used by Danish authorities. TenderRadar does not log in to Mercell or EU-Supply: tenders run there reach TenderRadar when they are also published on TED or udbud.dk, as EU tenders and cross-border-interest notices must be.
| Category | Threshold (DKK) |
|---|---|
| Supplies | DKK 1,044,400 (central government) / DKK 1,611,360 (regions, municipalities and other sub-central buyers) |
| Services | DKK 1,044,400 (central government) / DKK 1,611,360 (sub-central buyers); social and other specific services (light regime): DKK 5,595,000 |
| Works | DKK 40,313,840 (all contracting authorities) |
Official DKK equivalents of the EU thresholds (€140,000, €216,000, €5,404,000 and €750,000), valid 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, excluding VAT. Utilities and defense/security contracts: DKK 3,222,720 for supplies and services and DKK 40,313,840 for works; concessions DKK 40,313,840. Below the EU thresholds (Udbudsloven Parts IV and V): goods and services contracts with a clear cross-border interest must be advertised, on udbud.dk from DKK 100,000; contracts without such interest worth DKK 500,000 or more must be bought on market terms, for example a market survey and one quote, two or more quotes, or an advertisement. Works below the EU threshold follow tilbudsloven: up to DKK 300,000 one quote is enough; from DKK 300,000 to DKK 3 million two or three invited quotes (a fourth must come from outside the local area); from DKK 3 million an open or restricted tender ('licitation'). Open tenders and restricted tenders with prequalification are advertised in the press, online or on the buyer's website, and buyers may also use udbud.dk or TED.
The largest category of open Danish tenders (12% in TenderRadar's October 2026 data). Municipalities, regions, utilities and state agencies buy building and civil works; works under DKK 40.3 million usually run under tilbudsloven and may be advertised only in Denmark. Defense construction is growing: a 2025 fast-track act (LOV nr. 1097/2025) lets ministers set special rules for named projects, so far including ammunition production at Elling, ammunition depots, barracks accommodation at Høvelte and the naval quay at Korsør.
CPV: 45
8% of open tenders. The five regions (four from 2027) run the public hospitals and tender medical devices, consumables and equipment. Amgros, owned by the regions, buys medicines for public hospitals, hearing aids for public hearing clinics and medical devices, and is one of the most active Danish buyers in TenderRadar's data (6 open tenders in October 2026).
CPV: 33
10% of open Danish tenders in October 2026, the second-largest category in TenderRadar's data. The CPV division covers insurance, banking, payment and other financial services, so expect contracts such as public bodies' insurance programs and banking services.
CPV: 66
9% of open tenders, covering waste collection and treatment, cleaning of public buildings and other environmental services.
CPV: 90
8% of open tenders: architectural design, engineering, surveying and construction supervision ahead of building and infrastructure projects. Framework agreements are common in Denmark; they made up about half of Danish EU tenders in 2022, according to KFST.
CPV: 71
udbud.dk shows every Danish EU tender plus national announcements in one search. Log in (MitID, a foreign eID, or a username and password if you have no Danish CVR number) and save your search as an udbudsagent to get matches by email daily, weekly or as new notices appear. TenderRadar covers udbud.dk and TED together and scores each notice against your company profile.
Under the state procurement circular, ministries must report the purchases they expect to make over the coming year to udbud.dk as 'forventede indkøb'. These entries carry no deadlines, but they show which EU tenders and below-threshold purchases are coming, roughly when, and sometimes who the contact person is.
Below the EU thresholds, a goods or services contract is advertised only if it has a clear cross-border interest (on udbud.dk from DKK 100,000). Without one, a buyer can meet the market-terms rule with a market survey and a single quote, or by asking two or more suppliers. Works up to DKK 3 million can be bought through two or three invited quotes under tilbudsloven. Get to know local buyers and join their supplier lists so you are invited. TenderRadar does not see invited quotes or works advertised only in newspapers or on buyer websites.
State institutions must buy from the binding agreements in the state procurement program before anything else, and more than 1,000 public organizations bought DKK 18.8 billion through SKI agreements in 2025. Call-offs and mini-competitions go only to the suppliers on a framework, so the framework tender itself is the opportunity. About 70% of SKI's 1,605 framework suppliers have fewer than 50 employees.
See how Tender Radar covers Denmark:
All Danish tenders at or above the EU thresholds are published on TED, and udbud.dk, run by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, shows those plus national notices in one free search. Since 1 July 2022 buyers must also advertise below-threshold goods and services contracts with a clear cross-border interest worth DKK 100,000 or more on udbud.dk. Tender documents and bid submission sit in the buyer's e-tendering system, such as Mercell, EU-Supply, ETHICS or Comdia. TenderRadar monitors both TED and udbud.dk.
On 6 October 2026 TenderRadar counted 210 open Danish tenders on TED and 32 open notices on udbud.dk (the two overlap, so don't add them). TenderRadar recorded 172 new Danish contract notices on TED in September 2026. KFST counted just over 2,600 EU-level tenders from Danish buyers in 2022, worth about DKK 215 billion, and an average of about 3.4 bids per contract in 2023.
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Bill L 113, introduced on 18 February 2026, would have repealed tilbudsloven from 1 January 2027 and moved below-threshold works into Udbudsloven (at least three quotes or an advertisement from DKK 5 million), made labor clauses mandatory in non-state works contracts above the EU threshold, and dropped the tax-haven exclusion rule. It lapsed when the general election was called and had not been reintroduced as of 6 October 2026, so the current rules still apply.
Under the health-structure transition act (LOV nr. 699 of 20 June 2025), Region Hovedstaden and Region Sjælland merge into Region Østdanmark on 1 January 2027, leaving four regions, and some health tasks move from municipalities to the regions. Region Østdanmark takes over both regions' rights and obligations, so hospital suppliers in eastern Denmark will have a new contracting authority.
Official sourceThe e-tendering system offered to state institutions by the state's advisory unit (Rådgivningsenheden) in partnership with Mercell. Ministries and agencies use it for EU tenders, below-threshold announcements and mini-competitions under SKI and state framework agreements; suppliers download documents and submit bids on its supplier side. Mini-competitions go only to the framework's suppliers, so they are not public notices and TenderRadar does not cover them.
Visit portalDanish procurement portal used by more than 30 public organizations, including municipalities, utility companies, Energinet and the Danish National Police (Rigspolitiet). Free for suppliers: follow and bid on tenders, take part in market dialogues and sign up to buyers' supplier lists. Comdia says over 8,500 companies are registered. Quotes requested from supplier lists are not public notices and are not covered by TenderRadar.
Visit portalDenmark's main central purchasing body, owned by the state (55%) and Local Government Denmark (KL, 45%). In 2025 more than 1,000 public organizations bought DKK 18.8 billion through SKI framework agreements, which had 1,605 suppliers, about 70% of them with fewer than 50 employees. SKI's framework tenders are EU tenders published on TED, so TenderRadar covers them; later mini-competitions go only to the framework suppliers. ski.dk has an agreement overview and a tender overview.
Visit portalThe Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (FMI/DALO) buys equipment, IT and services for the armed forces and the Danish Emergency Management Agency, and had 5 open tenders in TenderRadar's data in October 2026. A DKK 50 billion Acceleration Fund covers 2025–2026, but the government decided in February 2025 that FMI should buy materiel by direct award rather than EU tender, so much of this spending never appears as an open notice. In February 2026 FMI said its focus is shifting to receiving and operating new equipment, including more than 5,000 vehicles due within two to three years.
CPV: 35
EU tenders in Denmark require the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) as a preliminary self-declaration. Before award you must document that no exclusion grounds apply: Danish firms can use a serviceattest from the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen), ordered on virk.dk, while foreign firms supply equivalent certificates from their home country.
Each notice names the system that holds the documents and receives bids (Mercell, EU-Supply, ETHICS, Comdia or another) and the languages bids may be written in. Tender documents are often in Danish only, so register on the system and arrange translation well before the deadline.
After an award decision in an EU tender, the buyer must wait 10 calendar days (15 if you were notified by letter) before signing. A complaint filed with Klagenævnet for Udbud inside that window automatically blocks signing until the Board decides on suspension, which it must do within 30 days. The complaint fee is DKK 20,000 for EU-regime cases and DKK 10,000 for others, such as tilbudsloven cases.
From 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027: DKK 1,044,400 for supplies and services bought by central government, DKK 1,611,360 for regions, municipalities and other sub-central buyers, DKK 40,313,840 for works, and DKK 5,595,000 for social and other specific services. Utilities and defense contracts use DKK 3,222,720 for supplies and services. All values exclude VAT.
Only in some cases. Goods and services contracts with a clear cross-border interest must be advertised (on udbud.dk from DKK 100,000). Contracts without such interest worth DKK 500,000 or more must be bought on market terms, which can mean a market survey and one quote. Works contracts follow tilbudsloven: two or three invited quotes between DKK 300,000 and DKK 3 million, and an open or restricted tender from DKK 3 million up to the EU threshold. Complaints about purchases without a cross-border interest cannot be taken to the Complaints Board.
Not yet. Bill L 113, introduced in February 2026, would have repealed tilbudsloven from 1 January 2027 and moved below-threshold works into Udbudsloven, with at least three quotes or an advertisement required from DKK 5 million. The bill lapsed when the March 2026 general election was called and had not been reintroduced as of 6 October 2026, so tilbudsloven still applies. Watch for a new bill in the 2026–27 parliamentary session.
Yes, foreign companies can bid. Firms from the EU/EEA and from countries covered by the WTO Government Procurement Agreement or other EU trade agreements have guaranteed access to tenders those agreements cover. Danish law also requires buyers to exclude bidders established in countries on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions that have no such agreement (Udbudsloven § 134 a). The buyer sets the language: each notice states which languages bids may be written in, and many tenders accept Danish only.
SKI (Staten og Kommunernes Indkøbs Service) is a central purchasing body owned by the state (55%) and Local Government Denmark (45%). It tenders framework agreements that public bodies can buy from without running their own tender; in 2025 more than 1,000 organizations bought DKK 18.8 billion through them. State institutions must first use the binding agreements in the state procurement program run by Økonomistyrelsen (the Agency for Public Finance and Management), several of which SKI now tenders and manages. Suppliers get onto a framework by winning its tender on TED.
Complain to Klagenævnet for Udbud (the Complaints Board for Public Procurement) by Digital Post or email. For EU tenders, file within the standstill period (10 calendar days, or 15 if you were notified by letter) to block signing automatically until the Board rules on suspension. Other deadlines include 20 calendar days to challenge not being selected and 45 days after the contract award notice is published in the EU Official Journal for most other complaints. The fee is DKK 20,000 for EU-regime complaints and DKK 10,000 for others.
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