NUTS Codes (Nomenclature of Territorial Units)

The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is the European Union's hierarchical system for classifying sub-national geographic areas. In procurement, NUTS codes appear on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) notices to identify the region where a contract will be performed, enabling buyers and suppliers to filter opportunities geographically within the EU.

What are NUTS Codes?

NUTS divides EU member-state territory into three levels. NUTS 1 covers major socioeconomic regions (for example, the UK's nine regions before Brexit, or Germany's 16 federal states). NUTS 2 covers basic administrative units such as France's regions. NUTS 3 covers small administrative units such as German counties or Spanish provinces. Each level adds digits or letters to produce a code such as DE (Germany) at NUTS 1, DE1 (Baden-Wurttemberg) at NUTS 1 sub-level, and DE111 (Stuttgart) at NUTS 3. The nomenclature is maintained by Eurostat and revised periodically.

On TED and in the EU's eForms electronic procurement notices, buyers enter the NUTS code of the delivery or performance location. This means a supplier searching TED can filter by NUTS code to see only contracts in a specific country or region, making it a practical geographic filter for market entry. NUTS codes complement cpv codes, which classify what is being bought, while NUTS codes classify where the work will happen. The combination of CPV and NUTS filtering is the standard method for efficiently narrowing a TED search to relevant opportunities.

Why NUTS Codes matter for bidders

Suppliers using TED to identify EU contracting opportunities should use NUTS codes as a geographic filter alongside CPV codes. A company based in Berlin wanting EU contracts performable in Germany would filter for DE NUTS codes; one looking for contracts across the Iberian Peninsula would combine ES (Spain) and PT (Portugal) codes. For suppliers assessing whether EU regional development fund-financed projects fall within their logistics reach, NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 codes tell them precisely which administrative units are in scope.

FAQ

Do NUTS codes apply outside the EU?

NUTS codes apply to EU member states only. Countries that were EU candidate members or had statistical cooperation agreements sometimes used compatible systems, but there is no global NUTS standard. For non-EU geographic classification in procurement, iso-country-codes are used instead.

How do I use NUTS codes on TED?

On TED's search interface, there is a location filter that accepts NUTS codes. You can enter a NUTS 1 code to search an entire country, or a NUTS 2 or NUTS 3 code to narrow to a specific region or district.

How often are NUTS codes updated?

Eurostat revises the NUTS classification approximately every three years. Changes typically reflect boundary revisions, amalgamations, or creation of new administrative units in member states. The current version is NUTS 2021.