- Single-bid awards: median 99.8% of the buyer's estimated value (1,480 notices).
- Two or more bids: median 89.8% of the estimate (1,276 notices).
- Median lab-instrument award: €221,000; the middle half runs from €57,000 to €500,000.
- The least contested pairs: Greece testing and measuring (85% single-bid), Greece analytical (80%), Czechia analytical (79%).
Most EU tender notices publish an estimated value, and every award notice publishes the final contract value. Comparing the two, for the same notice and in the same currency, shows what competition does to price.
Single bid versus two or more
| Bids received | Bar | Median award vs estimate | Notices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single bid | 99.8% | 1,480 | |
| Two or more bids | 89.8% | 1,276 |
Notice total value against the sum of estimated lot values, same currency, CPV 38 as the main code, October 2025 to September 2026. Estimates are published for fewer than half of awards. Source: TED API, analysed by Reblys.
Two readings follow. For a supplier entering a tender it expects to be contested, about 10% under the buyer's estimate is where awards actually land. For a supplier that is often the only bidder, the estimate is close to what buyers end up paying.
Where the gaps are widest
Country and segment together show where single bids, and therefore budget-level prices, are most common. These are the eight pairs with the highest single-bid rates, each with at least 60 competitive lots:
| Buyer country · segment | One bid | Lots | Median award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece · testing and measuring | 85% | 148 | €353,000 |
| Greece · analytical and life-science | 80% | 316 | €360,000 |
| Czechia · analytical and life-science | 79% | 252 | €137,000 |
| Czechia · testing and measuring | 72% | 251 | €138,000 |
| Poland · analytical and life-science | 72% | 476 | €161,000 |
| Poland · testing and measuring | 66% | 522 | €233,000 |
| Romania · analytical and life-science | 64% | 364 | €199,000 |
| Spain · analytical and life-science | 64% | 149 | €421,000 |
Single-bid share of competitive lots; median award per notice, all procedures. October 2025 to September 2026. Source: TED API, analysed by Reblys.
The market around these numbers
- Steady volume. 3,431 lab-instrument award notices in Q3 2026, up 5% on Q3 2025. New calls for tender fell 7%, so the Q4 pipeline is slightly thinner.
- Poland is the largest buyer. 1,648 instrument awards in twelve months, ahead of Germany (1,172) and Czechia (821).
- Q4 matters. Almost a third of the year's awards are made in the fourth quarter.
- EU Recovery money has run out. Awards naming the Recovery and Resilience Facility fell 84% between June and September 2026, after its 31 August deadline.
The full report, free
This article covers the price section of the European Lab Tender Report, Q3 2026. The 18-page PDF adds price benchmarks by segment and country, cross-border flows, who wins where, seasonality and what the end of EU Recovery money means for 2027.
Questions
How much does competition lower the price of a public lab-instrument contract?
About 10%. Between October 2025 and September 2026, single-bid lab-instrument awards on TED landed at a median 99.8% of the buyer's estimated value, while awards with two or more bids landed at 89.8%.
What is the median value of a public lab-instrument contract in Europe?
€221,000 per award notice (CPV 38 as the main code, October 2025 to September 2026). The middle half of awards runs from €57,000 to €500,000.
Is the buyer's estimated value a ceiling?
In practice, yes: single-bid awards land at almost exactly the estimate, and contested awards below it. Estimates are published for fewer than half of awards.
More from the report
Method: our own queries of the TED search API, run on 4 October 2026, covering award notices whose first CPV code starts with 38. Values converted at ECB reference rates. TED covers tenders above EU thresholds only. Reblys is AI-assisted: data processing and drafting are done with AI, and every figure is reviewed by a person before publication.