Romania’s retail lending loses momentum in 2025 after 2024 surge

The average monthly volume of consumer loans in Romania increased by 11.4% y/y in January-August this year compared to 2024, after a sharp 63% y/y surge last year, according to data from the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

The slowdown, visible in the mortgage lending as well (although the refinancing obscures the volume of new mortgage loans), has a direct impact on the dynamics of private consumption: the retail sales increased by 8.6% y/y in 2024, driven by 14.8% surge in the sales of non-food goods, but they slowed down to 3.5% y/y in Q1 this year, 1.9% y/y in Q2 and 0.6% y/y in July-August.

The growth rates for non-food goods remain superior to averages, but they followed the same downward pattern.

Separately, the corporate lending measured by the volume of new loans increased by 6.0% y/y in January-August this year, roughly in line with the 5.8% y/y rise in 2024 – a pace that is inferior to inflation.

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