A report from the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory, or ORSE, shows significant differences between the regions of Romania when it comes to energy poverty, with the North-Eastern part exhibiting the highest extreme energy poverty.
ORSE annually updates the level of energy poverty in Romania using conventional indicators calculated based on the latest data published by the National Institute of Statistics from the Household Budget Survey (ABF). The 2024 Annual Report published by ORSE includes a new national-level assessment of energy poverty, based on the most recent available data (ABF 2023).
The analysis, included in the 2024 Annual Report, shows that households in different regions of the country face distinct challenges in terms of access to and affordability of energy. In the North-East region, energy poverty manifests through underconsumption of energy, most likely caused by a high level of underdevelopment and incomes below the national average.
According to the ORSE report, 30.8% of households in this region cannot afford to meet their energy needs due to financial constraints, compared to the national average of 20%.
The Bucharest-Ilfov region is the least exposed to this phenomenon (8.8%). Other regions, such as South-Muntenia (19.2%), South-West Oltenia (29.4%), West (11.4%), North-West (14.9%), and Center (18%) show varying levels.
Overall, data analyzed by ORSE experts proves that energy poverty in Romania remains a major issue, affecting a significant portion of the population, despite a slight decrease in the number of households spending more than 10% of their monthly budget on energy (from 37.3% in 2021 to 34% in 2023).
At the same time, energy bill pressure is increasingly affecting middle-class households and even higher-income categories.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis caused by the war of aggression in Ukraine have made certain categories much more affected by these developments, especially the extreme forms of energy poverty. Households across the income spectrum are affected, but those in rural areas with lower incomes are much more exposed,” stated Anca Sinea, co-founder and coordinator of the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE).
The LIHC indicator, which reflects falling below the poverty threshold after paying energy bills, remains around 10%. “This indicator reflects the people who, after paying their energy bills, are left without money for other needs such as clothing, medication, and sometimes even basic necessities,” explained Sinea.
Approximately 20% of households show energy underconsumption, a sign of extreme poverty, and a similar percentage shows overconsumption, associated with inefficient housing or high comfort expectations. The burden of energy costs on the overall household budget, exceeding 10% of income, is much higher in the South-East (35.70%), South-Muntenia (38.80%), and West (40%) regions than in the rest of the country. The latter two stand out due to excessive urban consumption characterized by high energy use caused by inefficient housing infrastructure.
The Bucharest-Ilfov region shows the lowest indicators across all components of the analysis. Overall, the South-Muntenia region is the most affected by energy poverty, in all forms of manifestation of this phenomenon.
The causes of energy poverty are multiple and interconnected – low incomes, high energy costs, and low consumption efficiency – often overlapping with other social vulnerabilities. To prevent and combat energy poverty, the renovation of buildings, easier access to green energy sources, better coordination between authorities, and financial support have proven effective.
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