One in six euros of the European economy passes through public procurement in the form of works, services and jobs.

Omissions

• The most recent official European Commission figures put public procurement at around 14–15% of EU GDP, slightly below the claimed 'one in six' (16.7%); the higher ~16% figure corresponds to older estimates (e.g. a 2018 European Parliament study) and to the top of the published range.
• The European Court of Auditors (2023) puts the figure at about €2 trillion, or 14% of EU GDP, which is closer to one in seven than one in six.
• The claim uses a rounded rhetorical approximation rather than a precise statistic, and no specific source or reference year is cited.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission – Public procurement (European Semester thematic factsheet)Every year public authorities in the EU spend around 14% of GDP on public procurement. This amounts to more than EUR 1.9 trillion.
• PrimaryEuropean Commission – Single Market Scoreboard: Access to public procurementPublic procurement accounts for about 15% of the EU GDP.
• PrimaryEuropean Commission – Commission publishes evaluation of EU Public Procurement Directives (news, 14 Oct 2025)Public authorities in the EU spend around 15% of GDP a year on procurement – in sectors such as energy, transport, healthcare, and education.
• PrimaryEuropean Court of Auditors – Special Report 28/2023: Public procurement in the EUAround €2 trillion, or 14 % of the EU's gross domestic product, is spent each year on public procurement.
• SecondaryEuropean Parliament – Study: Contribution to Growth. European Public Procurement (2018)Public procurement accounts for about 16% of European GDP (EUR 2,448 billion) leading to a high relevance for the development of the Single Market.