This chapter presents an introduction to the report, reflecting on key changes that shaped competition enforcement in the past decade. It provides some context for the different dynamics impacting competition enforcement in the period 2015-2024.
A Decade of OECD Competition Trends, Data and Insights
Abstract
The OECD Competition Statistics survey (CompStats( collects data on the activity of competition authorities globally covering 66 jurisdictions.1 This data covers a range of areas including enforcement, resources and market studies. The survey has now collected data covering a ten-year period from 2015-2024. To recognise the ten-year milestone of data, this year’s OECD CompTrends report reflects on the changes over the last decade.
Over the past decade, competition policy has undergone significant transformations, influenced by various developments and factors impacting competition. Key elements that have shaped competition policy in the past decade are (1) the faster emergence of disruptive innovations and the growth of digital platforms, including generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other developments in artificial intelligence, which have resulted in an increased focus given to digital markets from enforcement and ex-ante regulation perspectives, and (2) the impact of COVID-19 and how it changed dynamics for both companies and enforcers.
Technological advancements have introduced new business models, challenging traditional markets and regulatory frameworks. The rise of platforms disrupted existing markets and brought challenges to the analysis of market dynamics. Developments in digital markets, more recently related to AI, have brought different perspectives, as well as concerns for competition authorities. Many competition authorities are increasingly focusing on data and the potential for AI and other innovations to create or reinforce monopolistic behaviours, leading to discussions on updating antitrust regulations to address these challenges. In some OECD jurisdictions, competition authorities have carried out market studies, public consultations and other advocacy efforts to understand these developments. They have proposed legislative and regulatory initiatives to tackle some issues ex ante,2 and have carried out major investigations against tech giants (OECD, 2025[1]). At the OECD, roundtables on competition in the provision of cloud computing services (OECD, 2025[2]), algorithmic competition (OECD, 2023[3]) and theories of harm for digital mergers (OECD, 2023[4]), held between 2023 and 2025, are only a few examples of the multiple times that digital markets have been object of discussion during the past decade.
The COVID-19 pandemic also had major impact on competition policy in the decade. It led to significant shifts and disruptions in various industries and prompted a rapid digitalisation of others. The pandemic demonstrated the interrelatedness of international markets and global value chains, and the explosion of subsidies has raised questions about levelling the playing field. Competition authorities had to adapt the way they worked and respond to it (OECD, 2021[5]). Issues such as excessive pricing, price gouging or price monitoring became part of the daily activities of some authorities around the world, even if only temporarily (UNCTAD, 2022[6]).
The interplay between competition and other policy areas has become more visible in recent years. Industrial, trade, labour and environmental policies, among others, have become part of debates on competition issues, including calls for competition authorities to consider them in their enforcement activities. The OECD has held multiple roundtables to discuss the interaction between competition and other policies such as data privacy (OECD, 2024[7]), industrial policy (OECD, 2024[8]), trade (OECD, 2022[9]; 2021[10]) and environmental (OECD, 2023[11]; 2021[12]; 2021[13]).
The following figure presents some relevant events that occurred in the past decade. This provides some context for the different dynamics impacting competition enforcement in the period 2015-2024. As it can be seen, the decade was marked by the increasing focus on technology markets and the link between competition and other policy areas. It will be important to ensure that robust competition policy continues to play an important role in the next ten-year period.
The report covers all the areas in which statistics are collected in CompStats including:
merger control
market studies
enforcement, including cartels, other illicit agreements and abuse of dominance
resources and institutional setting.
It includes charts and analysis of the changes in the data from CompStats supplemented by a discussion of the major changes which have taken place across different jurisdictions and the topics discussed at the OECD over the decade.3
← 1. The sample of jurisdictions comprises those for which the relevant competition authority or authorities provided data covering the period 2015–2024.
← 2. From an ex-ante perspective, many initiatives have surged. Instruments such as the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Smartphone Act in Japan and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) in the UK are aiming at ensuring competition by imposing certain obligations to large digital companies. Similar initiatives in other jurisdictions have been put in place as well.
← 3. This report is descriptive and aims to highlight observable relationships between variables based on available data, without asserting causality or statistical significance. While the descriptive analysis provides valuable insights into potential patterns and associations, it does not account for complex interactions. Further econometric analysis is required for a more rigorous assessment of these relationships, including the identification of statistically significant effects.