McKinsey: Digital economy could add EUR 42 bln to Romania’s GDP by 2025

Romania’s digital economy accounted for 6.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP), or some EUR 12 billion, in 2016, and could grow up by EUR 42 billion to 20% of GDP in 2025 under an optimistic scenario of accelerated convergence toward the development stage seen in northern Europe, according to a report on digital challenges unveiled by consultancy firm McKinsey, and quoted by local Agerpres. This would contribute one percentage point to the GDP growth over the period. Under a moderate growth, “business as usual” scenario, Romania’s digital economy would rise by only EUR 18 billion to reach a share of 12% in country’s GDP, in 2025. Romania is one of the ten "Digital Challenger" markets in Central and Eastern Europe, under the McKinsey classification. These countries have lower digitization rates compared to the so-called "Digital Frontrunners" (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) or the "Big 5" (Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). However, according to the report, Romania has a strong foundation to build on. Thus, the size of the digital economy in Romania (6.9% of GDP in 2016) is above the average of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) of 6.5%, but at the same time it is clearly lagging behind Digital Frontrunners such as Sweden (9%). Romania’s GDP grows by 4.3% year-on-year in third quarter editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pexels.com)