Romania’s electro-IT market reaches record level after 9% increase in 2016

Romania’s electro-IT market reached EUR 2.55 billion, in 2016, after a 9.2% increase compared to 2015, according to the GfK TEMAX Romania report. Last year’s level was the highest since 2007. In 2008, just before the economic crisis hit, the market reached EUR 2.48 billion. The crisis then slashed the electro-IT sales by half, to only 1.23 billion in 2010 and the market only started to recover in 2013. In 2014, the market returned above the EUR 2 billion level, and, in 2015, it reached almost EUR 2.3 billion. The durable goods market was positively impacted last year by the VAT rate cut from 24% to 20% and the wage increases in Romania, which also led to a 13.5% increase in the overall retail trade turnover. The sales of big household appliances went up by 20.8%, to EUR 577 million, small appliance sales increased by 20.2%, to EUR 178 million, and electronics sales also went up by 20.2%, to EUR 463 million, according to GfK estimates. The telecom segment, which is the biggest in terms of sales, saw a 12% growth in turnover, to EUR 824 million. Meanwhile, IT product sales declined by 15%, to EUR 419 million. Printers and photo equipment also registered sales declines in 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the electro-IT sales reached EUR 904 million, but the growth rate compared to Q4 2015 was only 2.5%. The electro-IT market in Romania is currently shared by specialized retailers such as Altex and Flanco, online retailers such as eMAG, evoMAG, cel.ro, and hypermarket chains such as Carrefour, Auchan, Cora, and Metro. Do-it-yourself (DIY) retailers such as Dedeman also have a small share of this market. editor@romania-insider.com