Romania’s Digital Economy to Reach EUR 52 Billion in 2030

According to a recent report, Romania’s digital economy might increase by 3.5 times, in 2030, from EUR 14.8 billion in 2021.

Currently, Digital Challengers on the Next Frontier report by McKinsey & Company, ranks Romania third among ten nations that make up the Digital Challengers, behind Poland (EUR 44 billion) and the Czech Republic (EUR 18 billion). The value is split between digital commerce (EUR 9.8 billion), IT&C spending (EUR 3.5 billion), and offline purchases of digital products (EUR 1.6 billion) in this context.

According to the Techno report, 66% of Romania’s GDP comes from digital trade, and IT & C might be the critical driver of growth through 2030. E-commerce in Romania is also a growing domain, and e-shops are booming, especially during pandemics.

In a situation where, in 2021, digital trade per capita was EUR 506, below average for the area, Romania’s digital economy might represent around 9.6% of GDP with an estimated value of EUR 52 billion.

Regarding exports, Romania and the Czech Republic account for the most significant portion of all digital goods sales. This is mainly attributable to two players who have operations in other nations: eMag (Romania) due to its operations in Hungary and Bulgaria and Alza (Czech Republic) due to its operations in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.

In the context of digitalization, Romania is also trying to take the first steps toward public service digitalization, which should contribute to the evolution of digitalization in Romania. Although in third place in Europe in the digital economy, Romania is among the last in digitizing the public system. Improving the digital sector is a massive opportunity for Romania to develop and enrich the economy. This market should be exploited much more because Romania is already raising exports at a level that unlocks EUR 8 billion.