The net average wage in Romania rose by 13.4% y\/y in 2024, or by 7.4% y\/y in real terms \u2013 more than double the 3.4% y\/y real advance in 2023, according to data published by the statistics office INS.<\/p>\n
Besides robust consumer lending, this pushed the retail sales to an outstanding +8.6% y\/y advance in 2024, up from +1.6% y\/y in 2023. Private consumption is seen at +5.4% y\/y in the year, accelerating from 3.0% in 2023 \u2013 but it is expected to slow down to +2.5% y\/y in 2025 due to slower advance of households\u2019 earnings.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the tight labour market and wage hikes in the budgetary sector pushed up the average net wages to a rate not much slower compared to 2023 (+15.4% y\/y), although the inflation eased more significantly from 10.4% in 2023 to 5.5% in 2024.<\/p>\n
Expressed in euros, the average net wage in Romania increased by 12.7% y\/y to EUR 1,045 in 2024.<\/p>\n
In Q4, the net wage posted slightly lower annual growth rates yet still in the double-digit range: +12% y\/y, compared to 13%-14% y\/y in Q1-Q3 (nominal terms).<\/p>\n
For 2025, the state forecasting body projects a slower (+6.1% y\/y) advance in the average nominal wage, partly driven by the constant wages in the budgetary sector. This would still be above the predicted average inflation (+4.4% y\/y), but the net advance in wages would decelerate significantly.<\/p>\n