The per-capita monetary average gross monthly income, in Romania, rose by 12.1% y/y to RON 3,575 (some EUR 700) in the last quarter (Q4) of 2025, according to data published by the statistics office INS. In real terms, this resulted in a real 2.2% y/y advance, a visible slowdown from 6.2% y/y in Q3. 

Thanks to stronger advances in the previous year (2024), the annual real increase of the gross per-capita monetary income averaged 5.6% per year over the past two years (Q4 2025 compared to Q4 2023).

The populist and unsustainable nominal surge in consumption and incomes during the electoral year 2024 was partly offset by the austerity measures imposed in 2025, including fixed wages in the budgetary sector and pensions, as well as the VAT rate hike and the liberalization of the electricity price. Overall, the consumption and incomes increased in real terms and even faster when expressed in euros. But 2026 will bring more corrections, exacerbating the public frustration, particularly in low-income households: those with unemployed household heads and a larger-than-average number of children.

The households with unemployed household heads faced a steep decline in their real per-capita incomes: 7.0% over the past year and 9.9% per year over the past two years. Their incomes are particularly low in absolute terms: RON 1,157 (EUR 230) in Q4 2025, or roughly one-third of the country's wage average. 

The average per-capita monetary consumption (food, non-food, services) increased by 9.9% y/y to RON 1,810 (EUR 360) in Q4 last year. The real increase was a mere 0.3% y/y, but it measured 3.1% per annum over the past two years. 

Due to different taxation regimes and non-consumption monetary expenditures (investments, home purchasing), the differential between per-capita expenditures in the households with household heads being employed and pensioners is not particularly wide: RON 2,029 versus RON 1,769 (13% lower). The incomes in the households with employed household heads increased by a real 3.0% per annum over the past two years to Q4, versus a 2.5% annual advance in the households with pensioners as leading members. 

A wider monetary per capita consumption expenditure is seen between households living in urban and rural areas: RON 2,150 versus RON 1,451 (-33%). 

The per-capita expenditures are particularly low in the households where the household head has no job: RON 817 (EUR 160) – after a real average annual decline of 12.5% over the past year (-23.4% over the past two years).

(Photo: Tero Vesalainen/ Dreamstime)

iulian@romania-insider.com