ROMANIA: PROCEED WITH CAUTION
Frontier Markets Focus | Romania
Romania aggressively pursues foreign direct investment by providing a number of incentive programs. But international investors should approach each one carefully.
Romania GDP and Economic Data
Country Report 2017 - Includes Romania real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Romania economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Romania best banks and safest banks are also available.
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International Reserves
USD 42.1 billion (2018)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 239.9 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Intl$ 516.3 billion (2018, estimate)
Real GDP growth
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 6.9% | 9.3% | -5.5% | -3.9% | 2% | 2.1% | 3.5% |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | ||
| 3.4% | 3.9% | 4.8% | 7% | 4.1% |
*Estimate
GDP per capita - current prices
USD 12,285.2 (2018, estimate)
GDP (PPP) - share of world total
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2019* |
| 0.83% | 0.65% | 0.37% | 0.38% | 0.38% |
*Estimate
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 4.3%
- industry: 29%
- services: 57.1%
(2018 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)
0.5% (2017)
OECD, data retrieved October 2019
Inflation
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -0.6% | -1.6% | 1.3% | 4.6% | 4.2% |
*Estimate
Unemployment rate
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 6.8% | 5.9% | 4.9% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
*Estimate
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 39.4% | 38.9% | 36.9% | 36.7% | 37.4% |
*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -1.4% | -2.4% | -2.8% | -2.8% | -3.7% |
*Estimate
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: BBB-
Moody's: Baa3
Standard & Poor's / Moody's
Source
Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source
Current account balance by percentage of GDP
-4.5 % (2018 estimate)
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
41.6% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.41% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
0.46% (2018)
Export commodities
Machinery and equipment, other manufactured goods, agricultural products and foodstuffs, metals and metal products, chemicals, minerals and fuels, raw materials
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Import commodities
Machinery and equipment, other manufactured goods, chemicals, agricultural products and foodstuffs, fuels and minerals, metals and metal products, raw materials
Exports - major partners
Germany 23%, Italy 11.2%, France 6.8%, Hungary 4.7%, UK 4.1% (2017)
Imports - major partners
Germany 20%, Italy 10%, Hungary 7.5%, Poland 5.5%, France 5.3%, China 5%, Netherlands 4% (2017)
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 4,997 million | USD 5,406 million | USD 5,888 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 4.6 million | USD -96.4 million | USD 13.1 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| N/A | N/A | USD 6.3 million | USD 3.4 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking:
55 out of 190 countries
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 91 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 147 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 157 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 46 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 25 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 61 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 32 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 1 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 19 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 56 out of 190 countries
Source
Global competitiveness ranking
51 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 42 / Score: 68.6 (Moderately free)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
Source
Source
Languages
Romanian (official) 85.4%, Hungarian 6.3%, Romani 1.2%, other 1%, unspecified 6.1% (2011 est.)
Religions
Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 81.9%, Protestant (various denominations including Reformed and Pentecostal) 6.4%, Roman Catholic 4.3%, other (includes Muslim) 0.9%, none or atheist 0.2%, unspecified 6.3% (2011 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020* |
| 23.4 million | 22.44 million | 20.3 million | 19.88 million | 19.52 million |
*Estimate
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2018 |
| 34.2% | 46.1% | 53% | 54% |
Literacy
Total population: 98.8%
Male: 99.1%
Female: 98.5%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day
13.2% (last available estimate, 2015)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
35.9 (last available estimate, 2015)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Source
Freedom House rating
Free
Political Rights: 2
Civil Liberties: 2 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 18.8% Mobile: 116.2% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)