Tenders in New Zealand

Public procurement in New Zealand

Key facts for bidders, checked against official sources (2026-10). General information, not legal advice. Always confirm the rules in the tender documents and on the official portal.

Main procurement law

Government Procurement Rules, 5th edition (Cabinet-mandated rules; no general procurement statute) (2025)

Regulator

New Zealand Government Procurement (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment)

Official portal

Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS)

WTO procurement agreement

New Zealand is covered by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA): above set value thresholds, suppliers from other GPA parties must be treated like local ones.

Foreign bidders

The Rules build in New Zealand's international free-trade commitments on government procurement. Since the 5th edition, every procurement must include economic benefit to New Zealand as an evaluation criterion, weighted at no less than 10%.

Notice languages

English

Currency

NZD

Good to know

The 5th edition took effect on 1 December 2025. Agencies covered by the Rules advertise open tenders on GETS, which is free to use; you need to register to download documents and respond.

Trade snapshot

GDP (2025)

US$264.1 billion

Exports (2024)

US$64.6 billion in goods and services

Imports (2024)

US$67.9 billion in goods and services

Trade share (2024)

51% of GDP

Average tariff (2022)

1.7% (applied, trade-weighted, all products)

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0).

New Zealand on FreeTender right now

584 open notices; the busiest sectors are construction & infrastructure (190), education & training (126), water & environment (45), healthcare & pharma (45) and it & telecom (36).

Most active buyers: New Zealand Government (541), Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust (2), Auckland Council (1), Bannan Science Award (1), Catalytic Foundation (1).

Sources: procurement.govt.nz · procurement.govt.nz · procurement.govt.nz · gets.govt.nz

About tenders in New Zealand

Public bodies and private organisations in New Zealand publish tenders to procure goods, works and services. On FreeTender you can browse open opportunities by sector, read the full notice and key dates, and go to the official source to verify and apply. Set up a free alert to be notified as soon as new New Zealand tenders that match your keywords are published.

Browse New Zealand tenders by sector