Public procurement: An introduction

The public sector represents about 40 to 45 per cent of many economies in the developed world in terms of spend on providing services and procuring from the private sector. Internationally there are outliers, such as Singapore, where it is only about 18 per cent of the economy, and some of the African nations where, as nationalized industries are still prevalent, it can be as much as 80 per cent. Imagine how much might be saved and reinvested in public service provision if the spending bill was reduced by just 1 per cent in any nation. However, it is astonishing for such a vital, significant part of all nations’ economies that so little research has been conducted on public procurement across nations and even within nations to improve procurement to deliver these benefits.