The annual inflation rate in the European Union rose to 2.7% in May, from 2.6% in April, while Romania is, for the fifth month in a row, the country with the highest inflation in the EU bloc, shows the data published on Tuesday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). In May, the EU member states with the lowest annual inflation rates were Lithuania (0%), Finland (0.4%) and Italy (0.8%). At the opposite pole, the EU member countries with the highest inflation rates were Romania (5.8%), Belgium (4.9%) and Croatia (4.3%). Compared to April 2024, the annual inflation rate decreased in 17 member states, including Romania, from 6.2% to 5.8%, remained stable in two countries and increased in 14 member states. In the euro zone, the annual inflation rate stood at 2.6% in May, up from 2.4% in April. Eurostat data show that core inflation, i.e. what remains after the prices for volatile goods such as energy and food are removed, rose to 2.9% in May, from 2.8% in April. Another indicator that, in addition to energy and food prices, also excludes cigarette and alcohol prices, rose to 2.9% in May, from 2.7% in April. Core inflation is the indicator closely followed by the ECB when elaborating its monetary policy decisions. In the case of Romania, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) previously informed that the annual inflation rate dropped, in May 2024, to 5.12%, from 5.9% in April, under conditions in which food commodities they increased in price by 1.24%, non-food by 6.38%, and services by 9.29%.
Participation in cultural education activities continues to be limited, with the main barriers being difficult access, insufficient knowledge, and cost, the recently released Cultural Consumption Barometer 2024 shows. The report showed that many Romanians still associate culture with entertainment rather than with personal development or furthering their knowledge. The need for relaxation dominates in cultural […]
Roughly 84% of Romanians say that the pace of the state’s digitalization is slow or very slow, according to an Edge Institute & AtlasIntel study presented at the Digital Governance Summit 2025, which took place on Tuesday, November 25, at the presidential palace in Bucharest. The survey aims to capture the way citizens relate to […]
Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued a negative opinion on the new bill regarding magistrates’ pensions. The move is only the latest development concerning a heated issue that led to tensions between the executive and the judiciary branch. CSM’s opinion is consultative, and the government led by Ilie Bolojan can still take responsibility for […]
Romania took the presidency of the Central European Initiative (or CEI) on Wednesday, November 26, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The organization is a regional intergovernmental forum established in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe […]
Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]
As Romania moves closer to implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, local employers are preparing for one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation in over a decade. The directive, set for transposition by June 2026, introduces strict new rules on salary disclosure, pay reporting, and equal-pay verification, aiming to close persistent gender gaps […]
