Romania’s construction activity posted 2.3% y/y contraction and, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, 4.6% m/m decline compared to December 2025, according to data published by the statistics office INS. In absolute terms, the construction activity in the first month of the year was particularly subdued for adverse weather reasons – it was roughly one third of the volume of activity reported (reporting versus delivery is another key issue here) in December.

The annual decline was roughly uniform across the three segments of the market: residential buildings, non-residential buildings, and civil engineering works.

By category of works, the current repairs fared comparatively better with 3.8% y/y advance, while the new construction works contracted by 3.3% y/y and the capital repairs by 5.2% y/y. 

Despite the slow start, Romania’s constructors look ahead to a moderately strong 2026 year driven by large infrastructure projects (civil engineering), and other public contracts, financed under the Resilience Facility, among others. 

In 2025, the sector of construction contributed 0.5 percentage points to the overall 0.7% GDP growth, thanks to the 7.0% expansion of the value added generated. For 2026, the state forecasting body CNP estimated the value added (as well as the gross output) would rise by just iver 4% to slow down at 2% in 2027 before stabilising at an annual growth rate of just over 3% per year afterwards. 

In contrast to the civil engineering segment, the residential buildings segment, which has gradually lost ground from the peak year 2022, is not likely to further advance after the 11.4% y/y advance in 2025 that partly offset a 22% y/y plunge in 2024. The non-residential building projects still hold potential due to their industrial and logistic sub-segment, however.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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