Bucharest-Ilfov dominates Romania’s IT sector, with five cities accounting for 85% of total turnover
The Bucharest-Ilfov region has established itself as the undisputed leader in Romania’s IT sector, both in terms of the number of companies and the business generated, while Cluj, Timiș and Iași are the other IT hubs in the country, according the "Romanian IT Market Study: Evolution and Perspectives" conducted by the Romanian Economic Monitor team within Babeș-Bolyai University, in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Transilvania IT Cluster.
The study includes 19,033 Romanian IT companies with recent annual turnover of more than EUR 50,000, according to the ListaFirme.ro database.
Largest counties dominate Romanian IT
In a national ranking of IT businesses, Bucharest leads by far, with a turnover of almost EUR 8.8 billion in 2024 and 6,369 companies included in the analysis, to which Ilfov’s indicators can be added: business worth EUR 1.21 billion and 406 companies. The next-ranked, Cluj, is listed with business worth EUR 2.48 billion and 2,650 companies.
Overall, the five counties (four counties and Bucharest) with the highest turnover account for 87% of total revenues, 75% of total net profit, and 85% of the total number of employees in IT companies in Romania, highlighting the unequal geographical concentration of the IT sector. These are Bucharest, Cluj, Timiș, Iași and Ilfov.
Aside from the largest players, smaller counties are also impressive. Despite the small number of companies included in the analysis (therefore not very relevant at industry level), Călărași County nevertheless ranks first in terms of productivity, having the highest average turnover per employee. Other counties with good scores are Buzău, Ilfov, Tulcea and Ialomița.
IT at city-level
The map created based on turnover at city level highlights several important IT centers that dominate Romania’s IT sector, the top five cities accounting for 85% of its total turnover and employing, in total, more than 136,000 people.
According to the analysis, IT companies in Bucharest recorded rapid growth, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of turnover of 19.4% (2020-2024), supported by strong profit growth and a stable level of indebtedness, making this city Romania’s main IT center. IT companies in Cluj-Napoca recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8% in turnover (2020-2024), driven by workforce expansion and significant growth in equity, while maintaining stable profitability.
IT companies in Timișoara recorded the highest turnover growth (38% CAGR) among the major cities, with spectacular growth in net profits and significant expansion of equity during 2020-2024.
Meanwhile, IT companies in Iași recorded steady expansion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.6% in turnover and strong growth in equity, while maintaining a high profit margin.
The strong concentration of the IT sector in a few regional poles has two sides, according to Levente Szász, coordinator of the RoEM-UBB FSEGA team. “On the one hand, it is an important advantage: in university centers such as Bucharest, Cluj, Timiș and Iași, genuine IT ecosystems have formed, in which universities, the critical mass of specialists, multinational companies and local entrepreneurship mutually reinforce each other. This clustering continues to attract investment, talent and know-how and facilitates the emergence of higher value-added activities,” explained Levente Szász, coordinator of the RoEM-UBB FSEGA team, cited by Economedia.
On the other hand, concentration also represents a vulnerability. “A very large part of the industry depends on the development of a few centers and is thus exposed to the same shocks: from reduced external demand and changes in multinational companies’ strategies to the transformation of the traditional business model under the impact of AI,” the researcher added.
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