UN System Procurement Statistics Report - 2010

United Nations procurement delivery in 2010 has increased substantially in comparison to the previous year. The total UN procurement volume has increased by $747 million over the previous year, representing an increase of 5.4%. In terms of procurement of goods and services, agencies increased their procurement of goods by $681 million and increased that of services by $66 million over 2009. The 2010 data reverses the trend that has seen the UN’s requirement for services exceed that of goods and revert to the trend of previous years where the proportion of goods far outweighed that of services contracted.

The 2010 report analyzes procurement from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and examines United Nations system performance in increasing opportunities for vendors in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Significant progress has been made towards achieving that objective (refer to Figures 4-8 in the Executive Summary for further details).

A comparative analysis of the agency share of goods and services categories procured by UN agencies first introduced in the 2009 report as a pilot is continued in 2010 and will be a standard feature in future reports.

In addition, the 2010 report looks at procurement by United Nations organizations from vendors that support the ‘Global Compact’. The Compact measures engagement by the United Nations system with companies that take corporate social responsibility seriously, an increasingly important consideration in the global marketplace. While United Nations organizations give no preferential treatment to Compact signatories, the volume of procurement with registered Global Compact vendors increased again in 2010 reaching 17.94% of contracts of $30,000 or more.

The 2010 statistical report features an annual thematic supplement, now in its third year, that focuses on current issues in procurement. The focus for the 2010 supplement is on procurement and its contribution to the Millennium Development Goals. It includes an overview of the international debate on the subject, best practice cases and contributions from practitioners and international experts.