Romania

Sales in microwaves remain in a slump which is expected to deepen further over the coming years. This is largely due to a widely held perception that food prepared in a microwave is unhealthy due to the loss of nutrients. On the other hand, the more…

Dishwashers buck the general category trend of major appliances by achieving decent volume sales in 2023. This is attributed to the category being quite new in Romania, with low penetration. Beko (SC Arctic SA) is the most prominent brand, with…

Savoury snacks is achieving positive volume and value growth in Romania in 2024. Sales are supported by the “snackification” trend, whereby consumers with busy, out-of-home lifestyles tend to eat fewer main meals and more snacks throughout the day.…

Cigarettes remains the basic tobacco product for the majority of smokers in Romania and thus it was also the key growth driver for tobacco as a whole in 2023. Widespread distribution across all retail channels in Romania supports the positive…

With high inflation weakening purchasing power among the population, volume growth for sunglasses in Romania in 2024 looks set to be slower than in 2023. The category continues to perform reasonably well overall in this regard, however, in part…

Video games in Romania continued to experience dynamic current value growth in 2023. On the one hand, the improving technological infrastructure in the country and the rising popularity of gaming across all age groups were key positive factors. On…

In 2023, hair care in Romania demonstrated robust growth, with a low increase in retail volume terms, and a strong-single digit increase in current value terms. Current value growth was recorded across all categories, whilst a more mixed performance…

Colour cosmetics in Romania maintained retail volume and current value growth in 2023, as consumers’ lives continued to normalise after the end of COVID-19, although volume sales were still unable to recover to the pre-pandemic level. All the main…

Cat food in Romania is expected to see a return to positive growth in retail volume terms in 2024 as easing inflationary pressures render such products more affordable to the cat-owning population. In addition, the number of cats in the country will…

Inflation in 2023 influenced Romanians' shopping behaviour for retail tissue. Unit prices continued to rise due to increased costs associated with raw materials and energy, as well as the trend towards premiumisation. This led to further polarisation…

Despite strong pressure on consumer purchasing power and soaring retail current unit prices, home insecticides registered a retail volume sales increase in 2023. While marginal overall, all categories, bar the mature spray/aerosol format, posted…

High inflation continued to exert strong pressure on the demand for home care in Romania in 2023, with retail current unit prices rising across all categories. Increases in the costs of raw materials and utilities put pressure on manufacturers,…

Romanian consumers remained very attached to their homes, and there was still a large part of the population that worked from home (or in a hybrid work system). In general, consumers are placing a higher importance on having a pleasant environment at…

The positive performance of consumer foodservice in 2023 was driven by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2022. However, high inflation was seen from the last quarter of 2022, coinciding with rising consumption of heat, gas and electricity…

Following interruption during COVID-19-related restrictions and widespread homeschooling, the accelerating ‘back to work’ trend has led to both volume and current value sales growth of writing instruments in Romania in 2023.

Amid challenging economic conditions, local consumers have shown a rising interest in investing in fine jewellery, particularly gold. Fine jewellery has also gained popularity as a high-value gift item. In addition, the lifting of pandemic…

Despite high inflation and rising production costs, the prices of power tools and hand tools were seen to have stabilised and in some cases even declined in 2023. This was due to popular chained retailers such as Leroy Merlin optimising their supply…

While oral care saw little movement in Romania in retail volume terms in 2023, it demonstrated a significant current value growth trajectory, similar to that seen in 2022, due to continued price rises. Volume growth was observed for non-essential…

Pet Care in Romania is expected to see a return to positive volume growth in 2024, following the decline of the previous year. This will be due in a large part to waning inflationary pressures, which will have a positive impact on real household…

Strong, double-digit retail value growth for discounters in Romania in 2023 resulted from heightened footfall driven by rising inflation. As bills rose, consumers were forced to reevaluate their spending habits, including migrating to other channels…