NUTS Codes (Nomenclature of Territorial Units)

NUTS codes (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) are the European Union's standard geographic classification for regions, dividing each member state into hierarchical territorial units and appearing on TED contract notices to identify where work will be performed.

What are NUTS codes?

Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, maintains NUTS as a three-level hierarchy. NUTS 1 covers major socio-economic regions (such as a large German Land or a broad area of France), NUTS 2 covers basic regions used for EU cohesion policy (typically the level at which regional development funds are allocated), and NUTS 3 covers small regions used for specific analyses. Each code begins with the two-letter ISO country code followed by one to three further characters identifying the regional level. DE (Germany) at NUTS 1 becomes DEA (North Rhine-Westphalia) at NUTS 2 and DEA1 (Dusseldorf) at NUTS 3. On the TED procurement portal, every above-threshold contract notice carries the NUTS code for the place of performance, making it the key geographic filter when suppliers search for work in a specific EU region rather than across an entire country.

The cpv-common-procurement-vocabulary classifies what is being bought; NUTS codes classify where the work is performed. Together they are the two primary structured filters on TED for narrowing a search to relevant opportunities.

Why NUTS codes matter for bidders

Suppliers focusing on specific EU markets use NUTS codes to build targeted search filters on TED and country-specific procurement portals that follow the EU framework. A civil engineering firm interested in infrastructure projects in southern Poland, for example, would filter by the NUTS 2 codes for the relevant voivodships rather than scanning all Polish notices. Understanding the NUTS level that corresponds to your target operating area (usually NUTS 2 or NUTS 3 for regional work) saves significant review time and ensures you are not missing opportunities because a broad country-level search buries regional results. NUTS codes also appear in EU cohesion fund tender criteria, where project eligibility is sometimes restricted to a defined set of NUTS 2 regions receiving structural fund support.

FAQ

How many levels does NUTS have?

NUTS has three levels: NUTS 1 for major regions, NUTS 2 for basic regions (the primary EU policy level), and NUTS 3 for smaller analytical units. Each level subdivides the previous one.

Are NUTS codes used outside the EU?

NUTS codes apply to EU member states. Candidate and neighbouring countries may use similar frameworks under EU statistical agreements, but NUTS is an EU-specific classification and does not cover non-EU markets.

How often are NUTS codes updated?

Eurostat revises the NUTS classification periodically (typically every three years) to reflect administrative boundary changes. Suppliers should verify they are using the current version when filtering TED notices, as outdated codes may return no results.