Romania takes up the 45th place in this year's Social Progress Index, a global ranking assessing quality of life and social wellbeing in 171 countries.

The index, compiled by the non-profit organization Social Progress Imperative with the support of Deloitte, is based on the analysis of basic needs (nutrition and medical care, water and sanitation, housing and safety), foundations of wellbeing (basic education, information and communications, health, environmental quality), and opportunity (rights and voice, freedom and choice, inclusion and advanced education).

Romania had an overall score of 74.49 out of 100, similar to that of 2024 (74.61), placing it in the Tier 2 group of countries.

The country improved its position in the world ranking in the basic needs category, where it takes up the 45th place, compared to 49th in 2024; remained 45th in terms of opportunities; and dropped in the wellbeing category to the 63rd place, compared to 61st previously.

Romania scored its best results in nutrition and medical care (36th place in the world, compared to 41st in the previous year) and housing (36th place, compared to 43rd). Improvements were also recorded in water and sanitation (58th place, compared to 72nd).

Its lowest scores were recorded in health and basic education (86th place in both categories), dimensions that show a gap between Romania and countries with similar GDP/capita (peer countries), including Hungary, Poland, Croatia, or Greece, according to the report.

Norway remains the leader of the ranking in 2025, with a score of 91.73 (compared to 91.95 in the previous year), closely followed by Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland, all with scores above 90, but stagnating or decreasing.

Europe registered an overall score of 79.18, a slight increase compared to the previous year (79.13), which places it second in the top of regions, after North America (82.1 and 81.74 respectively). Compared to 2011, Europe has seen the greatest improvement in air quality, although the global progress in this area remains slow, despite a short-lived improvement during Covid-19.

“One of the trends highlighted by the report is the increasingly weaker relationship between economic performance and social progress in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. This evolution is also visible in Romania, an economy that has recorded one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union, but which continues to face challenges in areas such as education, the health system, and the reduction of regional inequalities,” Alexandru Reff, Country Managing Partner, Deloitte Romania and Moldova, commented. “In order to have an economic growth with positive effects on citizens’ level of well-being, our country needs measures to ensure not only that the growth rate of public and private investments (with foreign and local capital) is maintained, but also that they are strategically directed towards social infrastructure and certain geographical regions and industries.”

(Photo: Ruslan Gilyazov | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com