Net wages in Romania were real 6.9% y/y lower in May

The average net wage in Romania increased by 3.2% y/y to RON 5,684 (EUR 1,086) in May, but the double-digit inflation rate (10.85% y/y) resulted in a significant 6.9% y/y contraction of the net income, according to data published by the statistics office. It was the steepest annual decline in the past decade.

In absolute terms, the average net wage is still some 10% above the 2019 average – higher in almost any month of 2023 except for March and November-December when annual bonuses were paid. Real wages underwent a sharp correction in the second quarter of 2025 and particularly in July-August last year when consumer prices rose to the double-digit area following fiscal measures and electricity price liberalisation.

Over the past three quarters, net wages have retained around 110% of the 2019 average except for the months with yearly bonuses, compared to 105% of the 2019 average or lower in 2021-2022. Compared to real incomes during most of 2024 and the first half of 2025, this is visibly less – but the subdued consumer sentiment (seen in the retail sales that contracted by some 5% after mid-2025)  is particularly driven by the uncertain outlook.

The negative consumer sentiment also comes amid sharp real wage gains in 20215-2020, when the average annual advance was roughly 10%. The average wages a decade ago, in 2015, were only some 65% of the average in the base year 2019. 

The wages in the budgetary sector should, in principle, rise in January 2027 after they remained constant since November 2024. But there is no clarity over this, and the lack of political consensus on the Wage Law for the budgetary sector and public administration adds more uncertainty. In the private sector, economic pressure on most economic sectors reduced expectations for any wage increases. 

The state forecasting body CNP, under its latest projection inked in February, expressed expectations for a 2.6% y/y advance of the real average net wage in 2027 after a 1.9% y/y contraction this year. The improvement should be driven by lower inflation, with a positive impact on private consumption.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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