Uruguay's public procurement
How it works
Where this data comes from and what you can do with it.
The source
Everything you see here comes from the open data the Uruguayan state publishes in OCDS format (Open Contracting Data Standard), through catalogodatos.gub.uy and the Compras Estatales site. We don't add or edit records: we import them, normalize them, and make them searchable.
The gold bar
Every amount carries a logarithmic bar beneath it. It uses the same scale across the site, so you can compare one contract to another without reading the digits. Gold is reserved for money: if it isn't public money, it isn't gold.
- Service de aire acondicionado$ 3.940
- Insumos de oficina$ 128.500
- Obra vial menor$ 4,7 M
- Equipamiento hospitalario$ 92 M
- Infraestructura mayor$ 2,4 mil M
Why we don't show a total
A handful of official records carry corrupt quantities, and that breaks any sum. The clearest case: a UTE award for generator equipment rental declares a quantity of 1,200,007 units at USD 519,788.85 each. That comes to USD 623 billion — about eight times the country's GDP — for a single contract.
Three records like that hold 86% of all reported spending; thirteen hold 93%. A "total awarded" headline would, in practice, be the sum of those errors. So we show the median instead: half of the state's purchases are smaller than that figure. It doesn't break when one record does.
We don't delete them. Filter to that agency and you'll see the record exactly as the state publishes it, with a link to the official file. The strange number is part of the story.
See those recordsThe limits
Some official records report no amount, and amounts in foreign currency are shown with their original currency. A contract carrying a flag isn't necessarily irregular: it's a contract that departs from the pattern and is worth a look.
You can always check
Every contract links to its official record on comprasestatales.gub.uy. If something here doesn't add up, the source wins.
Who's behind this
This is a personal, independent project maintained by Eduardo Airaudo. Non-commercial and open source. It is not an official site of the Uruguayan state. If you'd like to get in touch — a question, a bug, or about your personal data — the address is below.