SOUTHEAST EUROPE

Romania

Bucharest · pop. 19M · Romanian · Romanian leu

Trajectories

economic complexity

#23

Climbing the complexity rankings, from #31 in 1995.

2024 · 0.99

Harvard Growth Lab · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers30

when	value	change
1995	0.78
1996	0.83	+0.05 pts
1997	0.73	−0.10 pts
1998	0.60	−0.14 pts
1999low	0.54	−0.06 pts
2000	0.57	+0.04 pts
2001	0.58	0 pts
2002	0.59	+0.02 pts
2003	0.64	+0.04 pts
2004	0.66	+0.02 pts
2005	0.63	−0.03 pts
2006	0.69	+0.06 pts
2007	0.76	+0.07 pts
2008	0.80	+0.04 pts
2009	0.81	+0.01 pts
2010	0.80	−0.01 pts
2011	0.78	−0.02 pts
2012	0.84	+0.06 pts
2013	0.85	+0.01 pts
2014	0.88	+0.03 pts
2015	0.92	+0.04 pts
2016	0.99	+0.08 pts
2017	0.97	−0.02 pts
2018	1.01	+0.04 pts
2019	1.02	+0.01 pts
2020	1.00	−0.02 pts
2021high	1.03	+0.03 pts
2022	1.02	−0.01 pts
2023	1.02	0 pts
2024latest	0.99	−0.03 pts

economic momentum

$20.1K

Quadrupled since 2000. GDP per head in 2024, in current US dollars.

2024 · $20.1K

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers35

when	value	change
1990	$1,648
1991	$1,254	−23.9%
1992low	$1,102	−12.1%
1993	$1,158	+5.1%
1994	$1,323	+14.2%
1995	$1,650	+24.7%
1996	$1,633	−1.0%
1997	$1,577	−3.4%
1998	$1,853	+17.4%
1999	$1,600	−13.6%
2000	$1,660	+3.8%
2001	$1,825	+10.0%
2002	$2,120	+16.1%
2003	$2,679	+26.4%
2004	$3,495	+30.4%
2005	$4,618	+32.1%
2006	$5,758	+24.7%
2007	$8,360	+45.2%
2008	$10.4K	+24.8%
2009	$8,548	−18.1%
2010	$8,400	−1.7%
2011	$9,561	+13.8%
2012	$8,930	−6.6%
2013	$9,498	+6.4%
2014	$10.0K	+5.6%
2015	$8,977	−10.5%
2016	$9,405	+4.8%
2017	$10.7K	+14.1%
2018	$12.4K	+15.7%
2019	$12.9K	+4.0%
2020	$13.0K	+0.8%
2021	$14.9K	+14.6%
2022	$15.5K	+4.0%
2023	$18.2K	+17.7%
2024latest	$20.1K	+10.1%

prices

5.7%

A year’s rise in consumer prices, in 2024. The world’s median was 3.1%.

2024 · 5.7%

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers34

when	value	change
1991	231%
1992	211%	−19.4 pts
1993high	255%	+44.0 pts
1994	137%	−118 pts
1995	32.2%	−105 pts
1996	38.8%	+6.59 pts
1997	155%	+116 pts
1998	59.1%	−95.7 pts
1999	45.8%	−13.3 pts
2000	45.7%	−0.14 pts
2001	34.5%	−11.2 pts
2002	22.5%	−11.9 pts
2003	15.3%	−7.27 pts
2004	11.9%	−3.40 pts
2005	9.0%	−2.86 pts
2006	6.6%	−2.46 pts
2007	4.8%	−1.72 pts
2008	7.9%	+3.01 pts
2009	5.6%	−2.26 pts
2010	6.1%	+0.50 pts
2011	5.8%	−0.30 pts
2012	3.3%	−2.45 pts
2013	4.0%	+0.65 pts
2014	1.1%	−2.92 pts
2015	−0.6%	−1.66 pts
2016low	−1.5%	−0.95 pts
2017	1.3%	+2.88 pts
2018	4.6%	+3.29 pts
2019	3.8%	−0.80 pts
2020	2.6%	−1.20 pts
2021	5.1%	+2.42 pts
2022	13.8%	+8.74 pts
2023	10.4%	−3.40 pts
2024latest	5.7%	−4.68 pts

demographic curve

1.4 children per woman

Far below replacement: rapid ageing ahead. Fell from 2.4 in 1980.

2024 · 1.4

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median · rule marks replacement (2.1)

the numbers65

when	value	change
1960	2.3
1961	2.2	−7.3%
1962	2.0	−6.0%
1963	2.0	−1.5%
1964	2.0	−2.5%
1965	1.9	−2.6%
1966	1.9	−0.5%
1967high	3.7	+92.6%
1968	3.6	−0.8%
1969	3.2	−12.1%
1970	2.9	−9.4%
1971	2.7	−7.6%
1972	2.5	−4.5%
1973	2.4	−4.3%
1974	2.7	+11.1%
1975	2.6	−4.4%
1976	2.5	−1.9%
1977	2.6	+1.2%
1978	2.5	−1.9%
1979	2.5	−1.2%
1980	2.4	−2.4%
1981	2.4	−2.9%
1982	2.2	−8.1%
1983	2.1	−5.1%
1984	2.3	+9.7%
1985	2.3	+2.2%
1986	2.4	+3.5%
1987	2.4	−0.4%
1988	2.3	−3.4%
1989	2.2	−3.5%
1990	1.8	−17.6%
1991	1.6	−13.1%
1992	1.5	−5.0%
1993	1.4	−5.3%
1994	1.4	−2.1%
1995	1.3	−5.0%
1996	1.3	−2.3%
1997	1.3	+1.5%
1998	1.3	0.0%
1999	1.3	−1.5%
2000	1.3	+0.8%
2001low	1.3	−3.1%
2002	1.3	0.0%
2003	1.3	+2.4%
2004	1.3	+2.3%
2005	1.4	+5.3%
2006	1.4	+1.4%
2007	1.4	+2.1%
2008	1.6	+10.3%
2009	1.7	+3.7%
2010	1.6	−4.2%
2011	1.5	−7.5%
2012	1.5	+3.4%
2013	1.5	−3.9%
2014	1.6	+6.8%
2015	1.6	+3.8%
2016	1.7	+4.3%
2017	1.8	+5.3%
2018	1.8	−1.1%
2019	1.8	+0.6%
2020	1.8	+1.7%
2021	1.8	+0.6%
2022	1.7	−5.5%
2023	1.5	−9.9%
2024latest	1.4	−9.7%

Metrics

population

19M

68 of 176

REST Countries · UN data
gdp

$348B

42 of 170

World Bank · latest available
gdp per capita

$18,244

52 of 170

World Bank · latest available
military spending

$6B

38 of 151

SIPRI via World Bank
military % of gdp

1.6%

73 of 148

SIPRI via World Bank
area

238K km²

84 of 176

REST Countries
population density

79.8 /km²

79 of 176

zuhd — derived from population and area
life expectancy

76.6 yr

65 of 175

World Bank · latest available
internet access

89%

50 of 166

ITU via World Bank
co₂ per capita

3.7 t

65 of 163

World Bank · Climate Watch
urbanisation

52%

117 of 168

World Bank · UN DESA
fertility rate

1.4

142 of 168

World Bank · UN DESA
foreign-born share

3.4%

92 of 167

World Bank · UN DESA
remittances % of gdp

2.5%

75 of 155

World Bank · IMF BOP
r&d % of gdp

0.5%

60 of 123

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
researchers per million

1,082

53 of 118

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
scientific articles / yr

12K

40 of 168

NSF / World Bank
high-tech exports %

13%

45 of 153

World Bank · UN Comtrade
gini inequality

29.8

27 of 139

World Bank · PovcalNet
youth unemployment

25%

140 of 166

ILO via World Bank
adult literacy

99%

14 of 109

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
democracy (v-dem)

0.46

65 of 163

V-Dem via Our World in Data
clean government

46

57 of 164

Transparency International via Our World in Data
press freedom

24.9

42 of 163

RSF via Our World in Data
human development

0.845

47 of 164

UNDP via Our World in Data
refugees hosted

185K

35 of 150

UNHCR via Our World in Data
refugees produced

2.9K

81 of 152

UNHCR via Our World in Data