Analysis: Domestic capital dominates numerically in Romania, but foreign investors dominate financially

Romania functions with two economies, one where the Romanian entrepreneurs dominate almost 94% of the companies in the country and support approximately 63% of the work places, but more than two thirds of the total capitals and almost half of the turnover are concentrated in the companies with foreign capital, which represent under 6% of the total of companies and less than 30% of the employees, show an analysis made by Termene.ro on the basis of the financial statements supplied by over 840,000 companies.Thus, Romanian companies—approximately 790,000 companies—generate 48% of total turnover but account for 63% of jobs in the economy, or approximately 2.6 million employees. In contrast, foreign-owned companies, which represent less than 6% of all companies and less than 30% of employees, account for more than 45% of turnover and over two-thirds of the total equity capital of the business environment.   "Romania actually operates with two coexisting economies. One is very large in terms of the number of companies and employees, built by Romanian entrepreneurs, and the other is much smaller in number but much stronger financially, dominated by foreign capital," says Ionut Bonoiu, Head of Context at Termene.ro. The analysis also shows another important difference in economic behavior. Romanian companies are more profitable at the aggregate level and generate about 66% of the net profit balance (the difference between total profits and total losses of companies), with an average margin of over 8%, more than twice as high as that of foreign-owned companies. However, their low level of capitalization limits their capacity for investment and expansion.   On the other hand, international companies benefit from substantial equity capital, which allows them to be "bankable," grow faster, and integrate local production into global economic chains. More than two-thirds of the equity capital of Romanian companies is controlled by foreign-owned companies, while Romanian entrepreneurial companies hold more than a quarter.   The last years showed that there are important exceptions, local groups such as Paval Holding or Altex which managed on the basis of profit reinvestment not only to become local leaders but to become strong enough to be able to make acquisitions."The issue is not who wins between Romanian and foreign capital. The real issue is that more and more Romanian companies should be able to grow and capitalize, so that the difference between the large number of companies and their economic weight is reduced," according to the Termene.ro analysis. Companies majority-owned by the Romanian state represent less than 0.5% of all companies that submitted their balance sheets for 2024. However, their economic role is significantly greater than their numerical weight. These companies generate over 3% of the economy's total turnover and more than 6% of the aggregate net profit balance. In addition, state-owned companies stand out for their high level of capitalization. They control almost 5% of total equity and more than 5% of total employees, with a significantly larger average size than private entrepreneurial firms.   The financial data reported by over 840,000 companies that submitted their balance sheets for 2024 by the end of October 2025 were analyzed. For this analysis, the shareholding structures were tracked in depth, including through shareholding chains that exceeded ten successive levels. "We went much deeper than in traditional analyses. In one case, we reached the 11th level of shareholding. And what we discovered changes the perspective on how the Romanian economy works," says Ionut Bonoiu.   The analysis also identified a distinct category of less than 0.5% of the total for which no clear majority shareholder could be determined or whose ownership structure is mixed. In these cases, the capital is divided between Romanian, foreign, and/or state shareholders, with none of the categories holding majority control. This category includes companies with complex ownership structures, partnerships, or entities in transition areas, where the available information does not allow for clear attribution to one of the main categories. Although they represent a small percentage of the total number of companies, these companies have a more visible share in turnover and total assets, which is why they have been kept as a separate segment in the analysis to ensure data accuracy and transparency.   Founded by entrepreneur Adrian Dragomir, Termene.ro is a business intelligence platform used by over 130,000 professionals and over 6,000 subscribing companies.