A Decade of OECD Competition Trends: Data and Insights
Presentation of key findings
by Aura Garcia Pabón, OECD Competition Expert
What happened in the past 10 years?
Competition Trends – 10 years of data 10 years of OECD CompTrends
Includes data for 66 jurisdictions between 2015 and 2024 for over 30 economic and legal variables related to competition enforcement
Key numbers
Mergers were notified to competition authorities in the period 2015-2024.
In fines were imposed for anticompetitive conduct in the last decade to more than 10 000 companies 95 126
65.5 BN 4%
Annualised real growth of competition authorities’ budgets dedicated to competition in the past decade
Merger
Total merger notifications
Transaction volumes grew over the past decade, reaching the highest number of mergers notified to competition authorities in 2021 with more than 12 000 filings.
OECD competition authorities are challenging and prohibiting more mergers
The number of mergers prohibited or challenged in OECD jurisdictions, where most prohibition decisions are taken, increased.
2024 was the year with most prohibited or challenged mergers in both absolute and relative terms with respect to the total number of merger decisions.
Market studies remain a useful tool for competition authorities
The most common industries studied by competition authorities in market studies in 2024 were:
Retail trade Manufacturing
1 561
Market studies were conducted globally between 2015 and 2024
There was an overall decline in the number of enforcement decisions over the past decade
Potential explanations for the decline include:
• priorities increasing beyond enforcement
• COVID-19 disruption
• decline in leniency applications
• increased complexity of enforcement cases
• increased deterrence following major cases.
Key metrics on resources dedicated to competition enforcement
A Decade of OECD Competition Trends: Data and Insights (2025)
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