Procurement statistics: a short guide
One of the ways in which the Government achieves its goals is to buy goods and services. This is called procurement, and covers a wide range of things, from the purchase of printer paper to commissioning social care. This is a short guide to the main sources of procurement statistics for the UK, with headline figures.
There are two main sources for data on how much the public sector is spending on procurement in total across the UK.
The Whole of Government AccountsThe Treasury’s Whole of Government Accounts is possibly the most useful source overall for looking at how much the public sector buys from the private sector.
The latest data is currently for 2023/24, when £341 billion was spent on procurement.
Procurement accounts for about a third of public sector spending.
Source: HM Treasury, Whole of Government Accounts, various years
Most procurement spending falls under the category ‘purchases of goods and services’ in the Whole of Government Accounts. This category can be broken down into central government, local government & other public sector, with some figures for government departments and devolved administrations. Totals are also given for certain high level categories of spending, such as ‘ICT outsourcing and support’. See Note 8 of Whole of Government Accounts 2023/24 for these breakdowns.
These figures are not adjusted for inflation.
Public Spending StatisticsThe Treasury’s Public Spending Statistics and Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) give more recent figures but include the procurement of goods and services by one public sector body from another.
Gross spending on public sector procurement was £434 billion in 2024/25 across the UK.
There was an increase of £19 billion or 5%, compared with the previous year, not adjusted for inflation.
Source: HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2025, 17 July 2025 - tables 5.5 and 5.6
Published budgets suggest procurement spending increasing by around 13% in 2025/26, according to data from tables 2.2 and 2.3 of HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2025. Note that these figures are based on government budgets which do not cover the full public sector, unlike the figures quoted above.
None of these figures are adjusted for inflation.
Other useful sourcesOther useful sources include for procurement statistics include:
- Cabinet Office figures on Central government spend with SMEs. These figures are availble up to 2021/22. Government departments should publish figures for 2025/26 in 2026.
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European Commission studies on procurement with foreign suppliers - the most recent is Study on the measurement of cross-border penetration in the EU public procurement market based on 2016-2019 data.
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Figures derived from published public sector transparency data, for example from Contracts Finder. Organisations analysing this data include Spend Network and Tussell.
- The National Audit Office.