No. 53, May-Jun. 2025 In 2024, compared with 2023, hourly labour costs at whole economy level expressed in euro rose by 5.0% in the EU and by 4.5% in the euro area. Within the euro area, hourly labour costs increased in all countries. The largest increases were recorded in Croatia (+14.2%), Latvia (+12.1%) and Lithuania (+10.8%) and the lowest in Czechia (+1.3%), followed by Finland (+1.8%) and Luxembourg (+2.1%). More
No. 52, Mar.-Apr. 2025 Cluj is just ahead of Bucharest in terms of local purchasing power and the amount needed for monthly expenses, according to data aggregated by the international website numbeo.com. Thus, with +0.7% in the first indicator and a slightly lower need for money for the same standard of living (despite higher rents), the capital of Transylvania marginally outperformed the capital of Romania. More
No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 The work intensity of a household is the ratio of the total number of months that adult household members have worked during the income reference year and the total number of months the same household members theoretically could have worked in the same period. It is defined in levels, ranging from very low (household working time was equal to or less than 20% of the full potential) to very high (working time was more than 85% of the full potential). Generally, the higher the work intensity within a household (the closer people are to full employment), the lower the probability of being at-risk-of-poverty. More
No. 51, Jan.-Feb. 2025 In 2023, for the 11 EU Member States that reported inward Ultimate Investing Economy (UIE) in Foreign Direct Investment positions, the top UIE was Germany, (12.1% of total value of UIE FDI positions of the 11 reporting countries), followed by the United States (11.9%). Romania is included in the reporting EU Member States, alongside Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy and Portugal, which reported inward UIE FDI positions to Eurostat. More
Romania had the second lowest price level in the EU for the year 2022, with a value of 59.3% relative to the European average. Bulgaria was first, with an index of 58.5%, and above our country were situated Poland (60.7%), Hungary (67.7%), Croatia (73.5%), Lithuania (78.8%) and Czechia (84.3%).*In 2022, the highest price level for consumer goods and services among the EU Member States was observed in Denmark (49% above the EU average) and the lowest in Bulgaria and Romania (41% below the average). More
In 2022, the median disposable income was 18.706 PPS per inhabitant in the EU, one-third of it was received as social transfers from governments (e.g. pensions, social benefits, etc.). Compared with 2010, EU’s median disposable income in real terms increased by 20% in 2022. Romania was first among the member states, with a 126% increase.EU median annual disposable income per inhabitant stood at 18.706 PPS in 2022. It varied considerably across the EU Member States and ranged from 9.671 PPS in Bulgaria and 9.826 PPS in Slovakia to 33.214 PPS in Luxembourg and 25.437 PPS in the Netherlands. The highest levels of income per inhabitant were recorded in Central and Nordic EU Member States. Romania was placed third place from the rear (10.033 PPS), although the level of GDP per inhabitant is currently above the ones in other six European countries. This signifies an increased inequality in relative terms. More
Among the EU member states in 2022, the highest share of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion was recorded in Romania, according to Eurostat data. The percentage of 41.5% (same as in the previous year) was well above those for Bulgaria (33.9%) and Spain (32.2%). On the other hand, the lowest shares were reported in Slovenia (10.3%), Czechia (13.4%) and Denmark (13.8%).Children who grow up in poverty or social exclusion encounter difficulties in doing well in school, enjoying good health and realising their full potential later in life. They also face a higher risk of becoming unemployed, poor and socially excluded as adults. More
As a ratio of GDP, in 2021 tax revenue (including net social contributions) accounted for 41.7% of GDP in the European Union (EU) and 42.2% of GDP in the euro area (EA-19). The ratio tax revenue to GDP was highest in Denmark (48.8%), France (47.0%) and Belgium (46.0%), followed by Austria (43.7%), Italy (43.6%), Sweden (43.5%) and Finland (43.1%); the lowest shares were recorded in Ireland (21.9%), Romania (27.3%), Bulgaria (30.7%), Latvia (30.8%), Malta (31.2%) and Lithuania (32.6%). This situation makes taxation the main cause of public deficit. With public revenues even as low as Bulgaria or Latvia, Romania wouldn’t be outside the maximum 3% of GDP requirement for deficit. More
In 2022, the shares of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion varied across the EU countries, with highest values reported in Romania (34%), Bulgaria (32%), Greece and Spain (both 26%). On the other hand, the lowest shares were recorded in three states from the former Eastern Bloc: Czech Republic (12%), Slovenia (13%) and Poland (16%).95.3 million people in the EU (22% of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, i.e. lived in households experiencing at least one of the three poverty and social exclusion risks: risk of poverty, severe material and social deprivation, and/or living in a household with very low work intensity. The figure remained relatively stable compared with 2021 (95.4 million, 22% of the population). More
Last year, one fifth of young Romanian people were neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET), according to data compiled and published by Eurostat. It is the largest proportion in any EU Member State, well above the European average and the situation deteriorated in the last ten years, as opposed to the progress recorded in neighboring countries.*In 2022, 11.7 % of 15-29 year-olds in the EU were neither in employment nor in education and training.* The proportion of 15-29 year-olds in the EU neither in employment nor in education and training in 2022 ranged from 4.2 % in the Netherlands to 19.8 % in Romania. More
In 2021, the EU Member States with the highest levels of young people (aged 15-29 years) at risk of poverty or social exclusion were Romania (36.1 %), Greece (35.4 %) and Bulgaria (31.8 %), while the lowest rates were found in Czechia (10.6 %), Slovenia (11.5 %) and Malta (14.0 %), according to Eurostat.The situation in our country was extremely bad for the 15 – 19 age group, where the percentage goes up to 44.7% (see Figure 1), well above Greece (36.3%) and Bulgaria (36.2%), and a little better for the 20 – 24 age group (33.5%, under Denmark 43.8%, Finland 35.4%, Greece 37.1% and Bulgaria 34.4% ) and the 25 – 29 age group (28.1%, under Greece 32.7%, Italy 31.9%, Denmark 30.2% and Spain 30.0%), in the European context. More
In 2021, the EU countries that generated surpluses of personal transfers, representing more than 1% of their respective gross domestic product (GDP), were Croatia (2.7% of GDP), Bulgaria (1.6%), Romania (1.5%) and Latvia (1.1%). In contrast, Cyprus (-0.9%), France and Spain (each -0.5%) generated the largest deficits of personal transfers vis-à-vis the rest of the world as a share of their respective GDP. In terms of personal transfers and compensation of employees related to economic result, our country is placed also third among EU member states, with a percentage of 3.2% of GDP, after Croatia (7.3% of GDP) and Latvia (3.3%) and above Luxemburg (2.7%), Bulgaria (2.4%), Belgium (2.3%), Slovakia (2.1%), Portugal and Hungary (both with 2%). More
