According to Eurostat, actual individual consumption per head, in purchasing power, rose from 48% of the EU average in 2007 to 86% in 2025.
In 1989 Romania had no stock exchange. At the end of 2025 the Bucharest Stock Exchange passed €100 billion in value for the first time, according to PwC.
According to the Ministry of Finance, between 2007 and 2025 Romania received €108.3 billion from the EU and paid in €35.9 billion. Net: €72.4 billion.
Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007 and in 2026, one of only ten directors to have won it twice.
In August 2026 the president announced political agreement on adopting the euro. The acting finance minister spoke of "by 2035", on condition of exiting the excessive deficit procedure by 2030.
The new Romania: the short answer
In 1981, bread rationing was introduced in Romania's cities. In 2026, Romania is the European Union's largest sunflower producer, its stock exchange has passed €100 billion in value for the first time, a private Romanian bank from Cluj is the biggest in the country, and in May a Romanian director won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for the second time. According to Eurostat, consumption per head, adjusted for purchasing power, rose from 48% of the EU average in 2007 to 86% in 2025.
Several engines built this turnaround together: an open market after 1989, the flat tax from 2005, EU accession in 2007, foreign capital, European money and a new generation of professionals. And the next chapter is already on its way: in August 2026, Romania's president announced that there is political agreement on adopting the euro.
In plain words: within one generation, Romania went from queues for bread and cooking oil to a country of tech, a stock exchange, festivals and international brands. Growth has not reached everyone equally yet, but the direction is clear.
Euro conversions use about 5.35 lei to the euro, the BNR rate in early October 2026. The rate moves, so amounts are rounded.
From rationing to abundance
In the 1980s, Romania looked completely different. According to Europa Liberă, by the end of March 1989 the regime had repaid more than $11 billion of foreign debt, at the price of rationing food, electricity and heating. Drivers received 20 litres of fuel a month, and a queue for cooking oil in Bucharest was an ordinary sight.
Since then, according to the World Bank, Romania's real GDP has almost doubled: from $116.5 billion in 1990 to $237.4 billion in 2024, in constant prices. The road was not straight. The 1990s were hard, and output only returned to its 1990 level in 2003. But the pace since then has been fast: according to Eurostat, between 2001 and 2025 Romania's real GDP grew by 138%, against 41% for the EU as a whole.
The legacy of that era is also part of the story. The Bucharest metro and the Cernavodă nuclear plant were started then, but completed after 1989. And the mathematics tradition is older still: Romania hosted the first International Mathematical Olympiad in 1959. We tell the full story in the chapter on the Ceaușescu legacy and in the chapter on 1989 and the transition to a market economy.
The new professional class
Under communism, pay was set in fixed grades. According to figures published by Antena 3, in 1989 a secondary school teacher earned a little more than the average wage, about 3,000 old lei, and a programmer 3,680 lei. Today the ladder is set by the market, and it is much steeper.
- A junior developer in Bucharest earns a median of about 7,700 lei net including bonuses, about €1,450, according to Paylab (April 2025).
- A development team lead: according to Paylab, 80% of them earn between about €2,200 and about €5,300 net a month.
- A full-time ride-hailing driver working 10 to 13 hours a day can reach gross takings of about €3,000 a month, based on a range of 55 to 75 lei an hour calculated by the news site Gândul. Commission, fuel and tax come out of that amount.
- Lawyers: there is no public data on business law firm rates. The bar's recommended minimum is 220 lei an hour, and a sponsored piece on PRO TV cites a range of 100 to more than 1,000 lei an hour.
- Teachers: according to INS, the average wage in education in November 2025 was 5,861 lei net, about €1,100. A starting teacher earns about 3,700 lei.
The wider picture: according to INS, the average net wage in August 2026 was 5,688 lei, about €1,060, almost three times the €357 of September 2008 in euro terms. In software and IT the average is 13,010 lei. Read the full chapter on who earns what.
Agriculture: a breadbasket with a global market
In 1962, according to ARC2020, about 93% of farmland was in collective structures. Today Romania is a grain power. According to Eurostat, in 2025 it was first in the EU for sunflower production, third for maize and fourth for wheat. In the 2024/25 season, according to Commission data, it was the EU's largest exporter of wheat, barley and maize to countries outside the bloc.
On top of that comes the EU's farm programme for 2023–2027, with €14.9 billion for Romania. The next challenge is to process more at home: most farms are very small, and the country still imports meat, cheese and processed food. Read the full chapter.
Finance: from the state bank to a €100 billion stock exchange
In 1989 every bank belonged to the state, and there was no stock exchange. Today Banca Transilvania, founded in Cluj in 1993, holds about 23% of banking assets, based on a calculation from BNR data. The Bucharest Stock Exchange celebrated 30 years in 2025, and at the end of that year its value passed €100 billion for the first time, according to PwC.
The Hidroelectrica listing in 2023 raised 9.28 billion lei, the largest in the exchange's history and the largest in Europe that year up to that point. FTSE Russell upgraded Romania to "Secondary Emerging" status in 2020. And households remain cautious: according to Eurostat, their debt in 2025 was 12.4% of GDP, the lowest in the EU. Read the full chapter.
Tech: from Bucharest to New York
UiPath was founded in Bucharest in 2005, and in April 2021 it listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Bitdefender was founded in Bucharest in 2001 and, according to Ziarul Financiar, employs 1,709 people in Romania. In 2005 Amazon opened its first development centre in Eastern Europe in the city of Iași.
According to ANIS, information and communication made up 6.67% of GDP in 2024, and 195,929 people worked in IT. According to the European Commission, 96.25% of households are covered by fibre to the home, against 74.13% in the EU, and women make up 27.8% of ICT specialists, against 19.5% in the EU. The sector is now adjusting, after the income-tax exemption for programmers was abolished in 2025. Read the full chapter.
Within one generation, Romania went from queues for bread and cooking oil to a country of tech, a stock exchange, festivals and international brands.
Food and wine
In the 1980s people queued for cooking oil. Today, according to Eurostat, food in Romania is the cheapest in the EU: a price level of 74.6 in 2024, where the average is 100. According to the OIV, Romania produced about 3.3 million hectolitres of wine in 2025, sixth in the EU, and its vineyard area is the fourth largest in the EU.
International recognition has grown too. At the Decanter World Wine Awards 2025, Romania's gold medals rose from three to eight. In November 2025 Romania received its first Michelin Keys, for hotels, and by August 2026 there were already 25 Romanian hotels on the list. A first Michelin star for a restaurant has not arrived yet. Read the full chapter, and for the wineries close to the capital, see our guide to the wine regions near Bucharest.
Culture: from the July Theses to the Palme d'Or
In 1971, with the July Theses, Ceaușescu imposed censorship and banned foreign music on radio and television. Today Romanian cinema is among the most admired in Europe. Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or in 2007 and in 2026, and he is one of only ten directors to have won it twice. Romanian films have also won three Golden Bears in Berlin, in 2013, 2018 and 2021.
The festivals draw audiences from all over the world. The organisers of UNTOLD in Cluj reported more than 500,000 attendees in 2026, and TIFF more than 130,000. The Enescu Festival in Bucharest hosted more than 4,000 artists from 28 countries in 2025. And the writer Mircea Cărtărescu won the Dublin Literary Award in 2024. Read the full chapter, and for the stages in the capital, see our guide to opera, theatre and concerts in Bucharest.
Western brands, and Romanian capital
After 1989 the big investors arrived. Renault bought Dacia in 1999, OMV bought Petrom in 2004 and Erste bought BCR in 2006. The Big Four have been here for decades: EY since 1992 and KPMG since 1995, and Deloitte Romania lists more than 3,300 professionals on its website. According to Eurostat, foreign-controlled companies employ 27.5% of people working in the business economy and pay 44.4% of its personnel costs.
International hotel brands followed. Athénée Palace became an InterContinental in 2023, and in 2025 Corinthia opened a luxury hotel in a 19th-century building listed as a national monument. And in the other direction: in 2026 a Romanian group, owned by the founders of Dedeman, bought Carrefour Romania, the largest deal of the first half of the year according to EY. Read the full chapter.
Abundance, and those still waiting for it
According to Eurostat, retail sales volume almost doubled between 2015 and 2025, and the number of cars rose from 172 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2007 to 461 in 2025. And in October 2026 IKEA was reported to have a €130 million plan for new stores and the renovation of existing ones in 2027–2029.
One honest note: abundance is not shared equally. According to Eurostat, 27.4% of residents were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025, and 39.8% in rural areas. In Bucharest, by contrast, the average wage in July 2026 was 7,469 lei net, the highest in the country. We wrote about this gap in our article on GDP per head in Bucharest-Ilfov. Read the full chapter on abundance.
European money, and the euro on its way
What has already arrived. According to the Ministry of Finance, between 2007 and 2025 Romania received €108.3 billion from the EU and paid in €35.9 billion. Net: €72.4 billion. This is not money that vanished into consumption: in 2025, 56.6% of public investment was financed from EU funds, meaning roads, railways and infrastructure built for the decades ahead. The sum can also be read as a vote of confidence: for almost 20 years the EU has kept investing in Romania, and the annual net transfer rose from €0.7 billion in 2007 to €5.9 billion in 2025, according to Commission data.
What is still in the pipeline. When the EU budget was agreed in July 2020, President Klaus Iohannis announced €79.9 billion for Romania from the 2021–2027 budget and the recovery plan together. Today, after revisions, these are the main channels:
| Channel | Amount for Romania | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cohesion policy 2021–2027 | €31.5 billion | European Commission, 2022 |
| Farm programme 2023–2027 | €14.9 billion | European Commission, 2022 |
| Recovery plan (PNRR) | €20.2 billion after the June 2026 revision (originally 29.2) | Romania Insider, 2026 |
According to the Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2025 only 26.8% of the 2021–2027 money had been received, so the larger part is still ahead of Romania. We set out what this money is building around Bucharest in our article on EU funds and infrastructure and in the chapter on the growth engines.
The euro. On 1 August 2026 President Nicușor Dan said: "There is political consensus for the transition to the euro", adding that the next government and the central bank would prepare the roadmap. On 29 September 2026 the acting finance minister, Alexandru Nazare, said the target is the euro "by 2035", on condition that Romania exits the EU's excessive deficit procedure by 2030.
What is left to do? According to the Commission's convergence report of June 2026, as reported by Economedia:
- Inflation: an average of 8.4% in the 12 months to May 2026, against a reference value of 2.7%.
- Deficit: 7.9% of GDP in 2025, down from 9.3% in 2024. The forecast: 6.2% in 2026 and 5.8% in 2027. The ceiling: 3%.
- Exchange rate: the leu is not yet in ERM II, the euro's "waiting room", where a currency must spend at least two years.
- Long-term interest rate: 6.7%, against a reference value of 5.1%. In addition, the central bank law needs to be aligned with EU rules.
In other words, the euro is an expected milestone with clear conditions, not a fixed date. Every step in cutting the deficit and inflation brings it closer. For the economic background, see our article on Romania's economy in 2026.
Romania then and now
| Late 1980s | Today | |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Bread rationing in cities from 1981 | The cheapest food in the EU: 74.6 against an average of 100 (2024) |
| Fuel and cars | 20 litres of fuel a month | 461 cars per 1,000 inhabitants (2025) |
| Banks | State-owned only | A private Romanian bank on top, about 23% of assets |
| Stock exchange | None | About €100 billion (end of 2025) |
| Foreign investment | Almost zero | A stock of €134.8 billion (end of 2025) |
| Farmland | About 93% in collective structures (1962) | First in the EU for sunflowers (2025) |
| Culture | July Theses 1971: censorship | Two Palmes d'Or and three Golden Bears |
| Real GDP | $116.5 billion (1990) | $237.4 billion (2024) |
| Currency | Old leu, replaced at 10,000 to 1 in 2005 | Euro target "by 2035", subject to the criteria |
Each row comes from one of the chapters of this investigation, where its source is given in full. We told the story of the dictatorship years themselves in the chapter on Ceaușescu's rise and fall.
Frequently asked questions
How much money does Romania receive from the European Union?
Between 2007 and 2025, according to the Ministry of Finance, €72.4 billion net. For 2021–2027, €31.5 billion has been allocated from cohesion policy and €14.9 billion for farming, and the recovery plan stands at €20.2 billion after the revision.
When will Romania adopt the euro?
There is no official date. There has been political agreement since August 2026, and the acting finance minister spoke of a target "by 2035". The conditions: bring the deficit down to 3%, reduce inflation, and spend at least two years in ERM II beforehand.
How much do people earn in Romania today?
According to INS, the average net wage in August 2026 was about €1,060. In software and IT, about €2,400. A junior developer in Bucharest earns a median of about €1,450, according to Paylab.
Has growth reached everyone?
Not yet. In Bucharest, wages and output are far above the average, while in rural areas about 40% of residents are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat.
The bottom line
Romania in 2026 is the story of one generation: from rationing and queues to a stock exchange, start-ups, festivals and a Palme d'Or. Behind it stand an open market, foreign capital, European money worth tens of billions and a generation of professionals who earn more than their parents did. Growth is not yet even everywhere, and the next test is the euro. But the direction is clear.
If you would like to get to know Bucharest up close, and the neighbourhoods where this growth can be felt, you are welcome to talk to us at Compass.
Moti Azulay, Compass Group Romania
Sources: Eurostat: actual individual consumption per capita (prc_ppp_ind_1) · Eurostat: GDP and main components (nama_10_gdp) · World Bank: GDP in constant prices, Romania · Europa Liberă: 30 years since the foreign debt was repaid, 22.4.2019 · CommunistCrimes: Mihai Dragnea on austerity in Romania · Christian Science Monitor: bread rationing, 20.10.1981 · IMO: host countries · World Nuclear Association: Romania · Antena 3: wages under communism, 2011 · Financiarul: the average wage in August 2026, per INS · Wall-Street.ro: the wage in September 2008, per INS · Paylab: junior developer report, Bucharest, 1.4.2025 · Paylab: lead developer · Gândul: how much a Bolt or Uber driver earns in Bucharest, 24.5.2026 · Alba24: UNBR minimum fees · PRO TV, sponsored content: what a lawyer costs, 2024 · Edupedu: wages in education, per INS, 16.1.2026 · Edupedu: starting teacher pay, 2026 · Eurostat: crop production (apro_cpsh1) · ARC2020: cooperatives in Romania · Agroberichten Buitenland: Romania top EU grain exporter, 2024/25 · European Commission: approval of Romania's CAP plan, 7.12.2022 · Wall-Street.ro: bank ranking, 28.8.2025 · Economica: PwC report on the stock exchange, 28.7.2026 · Bucharest Stock Exchange: Hidroelectrica IPO, 2023 · HotNews: FTSE Russell upgrades Romania · Eurostat: household debt (tipspd22) · UiPath: annual report to the SEC, 2026 · Bitdefender: 20 years · Ziarul Financiar: Bitdefender 2025 · Amazon: Romania 2026 · Curs de Guvernare: ANIS study, December 2025 · European Commission: Digital Decade report 2026, Romania · Euronews: food prices in Europe per Eurostat, 15.12.2025 · OIV: State of the World Wine Sector in 2025 · Decanter: DWWA 2025 · Business Review: Romania's first Michelin Keys · RHN: 25 hotels with Michelin Keys, 19.8.2026 · Digi24: the July Theses of 1971 · Al Jazeera: Fjord wins the Palme d'Or, 23.5.2026 · Wikipedia: Romanian New Wave · Actual de Cluj: UNTOLD 2026 · Actual de Cluj: TIFF 2026 · Zile și Nopți: Enescu Festival 2025 · Columbia, Harriman Institute: Mircea Cărtărescu · Cotidianul: Renault and Dacia · OMV Petrom: acquisition closed, 2004 · Wall-Street.ro: Erste and BCR · Deloitte Romania · KPMG Romania · AmCham: EY Romania · Eurostat: foreign-controlled enterprises (fats_activ) · Economedia: Athénée Palace becomes an InterContinental · Journal des Palaces: Corinthia Bucharest · Economedia: the largest deals of H1 2026 (EY) · Actual de Cluj: IKEA, 8.10.2026 · Eurostat: retail trade volume (sts_trtu_a) · Eurostat: cars per 1,000 inhabitants (road_eqs_carhab) · Eurostat: risk of poverty or social exclusion (ilc_peps01n) · Eurostat: by degree of urbanisation (ilc_peps13n) · InfoCons: wages by county, July 2026, per INS · StartupCafe: 19 years of EU funds, per the Ministry of Finance, 24.3.2026 · Economedia: 2025 budget execution, 27.1.2026 · Digi24: Iohannis on €79.9 billion, 21.7.2020 · European Commission: cohesion policy · Romania Insider: recovery plan cut to €20.2 billion, June 2026 · bne IntelliNews: political agreement on the euro, 3.8.2026 · Ziarul Profit: Nicușor Dan on the euro, 1.8.2026 · Digi24: Nazare on the euro by 2035, 29.9.2026 · Economedia: the Commission's 2026 convergence report · cursbnr.nxm.ro: BNR rate, 6.10.2026
This article is for general information only and is not investment, tax or employment advice. The figures come from the chapters of this investigation and the sources above. Some are surveys, media calculations or organisers' figures rather than official measurements, and each chapter says so. The euro targets are statements by elected officials, not commitments. Euro conversions are approximate, and the rate changes. Correct as of 23 October 2026.
Forget the dictatorship economy
- Forget the dictatorship economy: the new Romania (you are here)
- Who earns what in Romania today
- Agriculture: Europe's breadbasket
- Finance: banks, the stock exchange and money
- Tech: from UiPath to Bitdefender
- Food and wine
- Culture: festivals, film and music
- Abundance: malls, consumption and brands
- Western brands: consulting, accounting and hotels
- What drives growth: EU funds versus investment
- From dictatorship to market economy: what remained and what was built
Now you know more.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult local professionals before any transaction.
