Romania poverty risk falls to 27.4% in 2025, 18.4% in poverty

In 2025, Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (INS) reported that 18.4% of the resident population lived below the at‑risk‑of‑poverty threshold, a slight decline of 0.6 percentage points from the previous year. The absolute number of people in poverty decreased to 3.468 million, down 127 000 (‑3.5%).

Overall, 27.4% of the population – about 5.2 million people – were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE), also down by 0.5 pp. Women faced a higher poverty rate (18.7% vs 18.0% for men). The highest incidence was among ages 18‑24 (25.8%) and children 0‑17 (23.6%). Households with dependent children showed a higher risk (21.2%) than those without.

Severe material and social deprivation affected 16.8% of the population, with children and the elderly most exposed. Very low work‑intensity households accounted for 5.6% of those under 65, a rise from 4.3% the year before, and were more common among women.