Romania’s services to households shrink in January-February, correcting surge in 2023-2025

The turnover volume index for the companies in the sectors of services to households contracted by 10.7% y/y in January-February, or by 7.6% y/y if adjusted for the workday number, according to the statistics office INS.

However, this came after a sharp 16.2% y/y expansion of the workday-adjusted index in the first two months of last year, compared to January-February 2023 – which maintains a 7.4% advance of the volume of services consumed by Romanian households in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period of 2023, before the surge in pensions and wages during the electoral year 2024.

In the hotel and restaurant segment, the turnover volume index contracted by 10.3% y/y in January-February, but it was still 6.6% above that in 2023.

The tour operators’ turnover increased by 9.5% y/y in the first two months of 2026, resulting in a 9.3% y/y advance compared to 2023.

The batting and gambling segment is the sole one that posted a negative performance compared to 2023 (-6.0%) after a sharp contraction over the past year (-14% y/y).

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