UN System Procurement Statistics Report - 2009

United Nations procurement delivery in 2009 has marginally increased in comparison to previous years. The total United Nations procurement volume has increased by $203 million over the previous year, representing an increase of 1.5 percent. In terms of procurement of goods and services, agencies decreased their procurement of goods by $360 million and increased that of services by $563 million over 2008. The 2009 data further confirms that the UN’s requirement for services exceeds that of goods, reversing the trend of previous years where the proportion of goods procured far outweighed that of services contracted.

 The 2009 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 3 to 8 in the Executive Summary for more detail).

 New for 2009, the report provides a comparative analysis of the agency share of goods and services categories procured by UN agencies.

 In addition, the 2009 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 shows an average increase over the period 2006-2009.

 The 2009 statistical report features an annual thematic supplement, now in its second year, that focuses on current issues in procurement. The focus of the 2009 supplement is on emerging issues relating to procurement from developing countries. It includes an overview of the international debate on the subject, case studies and contributions from practitioners and international experts.