Romania Industry Sectors

With a substantial contribution of 35% by Romania’s industry sectors, the Romanian economy reported a GDP (purchase power parity) of $256.3 billion in 2009. Although Romania’s GDP growth fell due to economic recession across the globe, the country’s industry sector helped keep the economy going.[br] 

With a substantial contribution of 35% by Romania’s industry sectors, the Romanian economy reported a GDP (purchase power parity) of $256.3 billion in 2009. Although Romania’s GDP growth fell due to economic recession across the globe, the country’s industry sector helped keep the economy going.[br] 

Romania Industry Sectors

The Romanian industry sector employs almost 23.2% of the country’s labor force and comprises a wide variety of organic and inorganic industries. While most of the industries are located in the urban areas of the northwest and southeast, heavy industries are generally located in the south.

 

The various verticals within the Romanian industry sector are:

• Electric machinery and equipment

• Textiles and footwear

• Light machinery and auto assembly

• Mining

• Timber

• Construction materials

• Metallurgy

• Chemicals

• Food processing

• Petroleum refining

 

In 2004, Romania enjoyed one of the largest world market shares in machine tools at 5.3%. Since then, Romania-based companies, such as Dacia, Petrom, Rompetrol, Bitdefender and Romstal, have expanded their operations throughout the region. However, small- to medium-sized manufacturing firms form the bulk of Romania’s industrial sector.

 

According to yjr National Statistics Institute (INS), Romania’s industrial output was up 6.9% year-on-year in 2010 in unadjusted figures in January and 7.1% when adjusted for business days and seasonality. This made Romania’s output the highest in the EU-27 zone, which averaged -1.9%. Industrial output in Romania fell by 5.7% year-on-year in 2009, following sharp declines in mining, extraction of oil and the processing industries. The industrial production growth rate was -9% in 2009, as compared to 10.1% in 2007.

 

Plagued by the global financial turmoil, the unemployment rate has been on a rise continuously since late 2008. While the estimated rate stood at 4.4% in 2008, it rose to 7.6% in 2009. In February 2010, the Romanian unemployment rate rose to 8.3%, the highest rate since 2003, according to official data.[br]

 

According to BalkanInsight.com, Romania’s jobless rate is likely to rise further in 2010, given the government’s plans to cut employment in the public sector in an effort to reduce budget deficit to 5.9% of the GDP, as compared to 7.2% of GDP a year ago.