The 2026 WinAContract data report
A working reference of the most-cited numbers in US federal contracting, drawn from USASpending.gov, the Small Business Administration, GAO, FPDS, and credible industry surveys. Free to cite with attribution. We update this annually each May.
Where figures rely on the most-recent completed fiscal year, that is FY 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023) for SBA scorecard data and FY 2024 for USASpending obligation totals available at time of writing. We’ve noted the year on each line.
“Almost a quarter of every federal contract dollar — over $178 billion in FY 2023 — is now legally earmarked for small businesses. Most small businesses don’t know that, and most don’t know how to access it.”
Federal contracting spend
$759B
Total federal contract obligations in FY 2024.
Source: USASpending.gov FY24 contract totals
$455B
Department of Defense contract obligations in FY 2024 — roughly 60% of federal contracting spend.
Source: USASpending.gov DOD agency totals
$303B
Combined contract obligations of civilian agencies (HHS, VA, DHS, NASA, GSA, Energy, etc.) in FY 2024.
Source: USASpending.gov civilian agency totals
~70%
Share of federal contract spending now flowing through indefinite-delivery vehicles (IDIQs, GWACs, BPAs) rather than standalone contracts.
Source: GAO analysis of FPDS contract structure trends
$10.2B
Federal IT modernisation spending in FY 2024 (excluding cybersecurity-specific lines).
Source: GAO IT spending reports, OMB IT Dashboard
Set-asides and small-business contracting
The Small Business Act mandates that at least 23% of federal prime-contract dollars go to small businesses each year. Sub-goals govern 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB shares. The SBA publishes an annual scorecard reporting actual performance — federal agencies have exceeded the 23% headline goal every year since FY 2013.
23%
Statutory small-business federal prime-contract goal as established by the Small Business Act.
Source: SBA Office of Government Contracting
$178B
Federal prime contract dollars awarded to small businesses in FY 2023 — a record year, exceeding the 23% goal.
Source: SBA FY23 Small Business Procurement Scorecard
28.4%
Actual share of federal prime-contract dollars awarded to small businesses in FY 2023, against the 23% statutory floor.
Source: SBA FY23 Small Business Procurement Scorecard
$22.5B
Federal contract dollars awarded to 8(a) Business Development Program participants in FY 2023.
Source: SBA 8(a) Program reports
$31.1B
Federal contract dollars awarded to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) in FY 2023.
Source: SBA FY23 Procurement Scorecard
$26.2B
Federal contract dollars awarded to Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB + EDWOSB) in FY 2023.
Source: SBA FY23 Procurement Scorecard
$15.6B
Federal contract dollars awarded to HUBZone small businesses in FY 2023 — first year exceeding the 3% goal.
Source: SBA HUBZone Program FY23 data
“In FY 2023, the federal government exceeded all four major small-business sub-goals — 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB — simultaneously for the first time in over a decade.”
Where the money flows — top NAICS codes
Federal contract spending is heavily concentrated in a handful of NAICS codes. The dozen codes below together account for roughly half of all professional-services spending. See NAICS codes explained for selection guidance, and the NAICS lookup tool for code-by-code detail.
541512
Computer Systems Design Services — the single most-used NAICS code in federal services contracting.
Source: FPDS / USASpending obligation totals by NAICS
541330
Engineering Services — the most-used NAICS code in federal engineering and A&E contracting.
Source: FPDS / USASpending NAICS rankings
236220
Commercial and Institutional Building Construction — dominant NAICS for federal construction work.
Source: USACE + GSA construction obligations
561210
Facilities Support Services — leading NAICS for base operations support contracts.
Source: FPDS NAICS rankings
12
Number of NAICS codes that together account for roughly half of all federal services-contract spending.
Source: WinAContract analysis of FPDS NAICS distribution
Bid response — cost, time, and win rates
The economics of bidding federal RFPs are punishing for small businesses without proposal infrastructure. A single mid-complexity response is multiple weeks of senior-staff time, and the median win rate without proper capture is in the single digits. AI bid-writing tools are starting to change those economics.
40+ hrs
Average time a small federal vendor spends preparing a single mid-complexity RFP response.
Source: APMP industry surveys, WinAContract customer-research interviews
$8,000
Typical fully-loaded cost (labour + B&P) for a small business to prepare one federal RFP response without AI tooling.
Source: APMP cost-of-bidding benchmarks; estimate
15–25%
Typical win rate range for small businesses bidding federal RFPs they have qualified properly via capture.
Source: APMP win-rate benchmarks across govcon respondents
4–7%
Typical win rate when small businesses bid federal RFPs cold without capture preparation.
Source: APMP capture-vs-no-capture win-rate comparisons
~10x
Reported productivity gain on first-draft response generation for early adopters of AI bid-writing tools (compared to manual drafting).
Source: Early-adopter case studies, vendor-reported metrics
38%
Share of US federal contractors reporting active use of generative AI in proposal workflows in 2024.
Source: Bloomberg Government / industry surveys on AI adoption
“A small business that wins 1 in 6 federal RFPs is doing well. A small business that wins 1 in 25 is bidding without capture — and that’s the most common pattern we see.”
Major contract vehicles
Federal spending increasingly flows through pre-competed contract vehicles. Getting on a GWAC or GSA Schedule is often the single highest-leverage move a federal vendor can make.
$50B+
Annual ceiling of the GSA OASIS+ government-wide professional-services vehicle.
Source: GSA OASIS+ program documentation
$50B
Total ceiling of the NIH/NITAAC CIO-SP4 IT services GWAC, with 510+ awardees.
Source: NITAAC CIO-SP4 award documentation
$45B
GSA Alliant 2 GWAC ceiling, used heavily for federal IT services contracting.
Source: GSA Alliant 2 program data
$100B+
Combined annual spending flowing through GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS / GSA Schedule) contracts.
Source: GSA FAS reporting
Bid protests
2,000+
Federal bid protests filed with the GAO in FY 2023.
Source: GAO Annual Bid Protest Report FY23
~14%
GAO effectiveness rate — the share of bid protests resulting in either sustainment or corrective action by the agency.
Source: GAO Annual Bid Protest Report FY23
~100 days
Statutory maximum GAO timeline for resolving a bid protest from filing to decision.
Source: Competition in Contracting Act, 31 U.S.C. §3551 et seq.
How to cite this report
Suggested citation: “Federal Contracting Statistics 2026,” WinAContract / eSourcing Data Ltd, May 2026, https://winacontract.com/federal-contracting-statistics-2026. All underlying sources (USASpending.gov, SBA, GAO, FPDS) are publicly available and free to cite directly.
Methodology and caveats
Spending totals are obligation figures from USASpending.gov rather than outlays. Small-business performance figures come from the SBA Annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard, which is the official source of record. Industry-survey figures (AI adoption, win rates, bid costs) carry methodological caveats common to survey research and are best read as directional rather than precise. We will revise figures as updated official data is published.
Related reading
See the federal contracting glossary, the best SAM.gov alternatives roundup, the 8(a) eligibility guide, and our SAM.gov alternative pillar.