Eurostat: Romanians most satisfied with financial situation in the region

Of all Europeans, Finns and Dutch (7.6) are the most satisfied with their personal financial situation, Eurostat data show. Romania stands out positively because, although we are surrounded by countries where people rate their personal financial situation between 4 and 5 (on a scale of 1 to 10), Romanians are very satisfied with their personal financial situation, giving it an average of 7.0. It is true, the net wealth of the population (the total of assets out of which debts are substracted) has increased significantly over the last decade, but it is unevenly distributed. 10% of the population owns 41% of the national income before taxes, according to the latest edition of the Financial Stability Report published by the Central Bank (BNR). The net wealth of the population was in 2024 almost 1,800 billion lei, against almost 700 billion in 2014. According to the most recent data published by BNR in the Report on Stability, between 2014 and 2024, the stock of real estate assets held by the population has doubled and the portfolio of financial assets has almost tripled. Statistically, Romanians do not seem to have run out of money. But beyond this optimistic picture lies a much more nuanced reality: consumption has outstripped disposable incomes and savings are negative in real terms. In an economy where the external shocks are more and more frequent, the increased net wealth offers an important buffer, the authors of the report say. But in practice, many Romanians live ‘ on debt’ or on the basis of past savings. The rate of savings is negative – sign that the disposable income is consumed as a whole and even surpassed. Practically, the people keep their living standard by applying to loans or to already held reserves. Paradoxically, despite the lack of saving capacity, the investmet rate is positive. Romanians continue to invest, predominantly in housing, which also explains the exceptional rate of property ownership - 94.3% of households own a home, the highest in the European Union. This trend is evident even among those at risk of poverty, suggesting a strongly property-oriented culture regardless of income. The increase of wealth was not uniformly distributed. The inequality of the income is kept as important, the top 10% of the population having 41% of the national income before taxation, situation which is reflected in a high level of inequalities at the banking sector level as well. Although 68% of the population over the age of 15 holds a bank deposit, polarization remains significant. A small share of depositors (0.6% or 84.4 thousand people) holds 28% of the volume of deposits (March 2025), with an average deposit amount of RON 1.06 million (210 thousand euro equivalent). In contrast, the remaining 99.4% of depositors (14.9 million people) have savings in the form of deposits, on average, of RON 15,500 (equivalent to 3,000 euro). Consumption was strongly fed by the increase of the minimum salary and the maintenance of stable financial conditions, which led to an increase of 14% of individual consumption in Quarter IV 2024, in annual terms. However, an important part of this advance comes from lending, Central Bank data show. Between April 2024 and March 2025, new loans to households grew by 41.7%, with accelerated dynamics in both the mortgage and consumer segments. But this expansion seems to have peaked: since December 2024, the pace of lending has noticeably moderated. Even so, total household debt soared to RON 218 billion at the end of 2024, up 9% in a single year - up from just 2% in 2023.