Romania

Overall construction activity

In 2019, Romania’s GDP increased by 4.1% compared to 2018. In 2019, construction represented 6.4% of the country’s GDP (5.5% in 2018). Total net investments amounted to €21,943 million, an increase of 17.9% compared to 2018. Net investments in new construction works amounted to €10,984 million, which is 32.5% higher than in the previous year and represents 51.1% of the total investments compared to 43.4% in 2018. For the period Q1 to Q3 2019, the volume of construction works increased by 27.6% with new constructions rising by 24.3%, maintenance and repair works by 33.9% and civil engineering by 3.7%. With the increase in the volume of activity in the construction sector, the average number of employees rose by 2%. The sector employed 394,000 people in 2019 compared to 385,000 in 2018. The average gross income in 2019 increased by 19% to €840 compared to €717 in 2018. This is the result of the measures adopted by the Romanian Government to support the construction sector. The construction sector continues to be affected by an acute shortage of both skilled and unskilled labour. To alleviate this action has been taken to recruit the workforce from Asia. In 2019, the costs of construction in general increased by 103.8% compared to 2018. By structural elements and types of construction: - material costs 102.9% - new construction 104.1% - residential building 103.6% - non-residential building 103.3% - civil engineering 104.6%

Housebuilding

For the period Q1 to Q3 2019, the volume of works in this segment increased by 28.5% compared to the same period in 2018. Compared to November 2018, the volume grew by 6.8% in November 2019. The number of building permits was 42,541 compared to 42,694 in 2018. In 2019, 67,512 houses (+7,799) were completed compared to 2018 with 61% being completed in urban areas and 39.9% rural areas. Investment in this segment is mostly private with a share of 96.5% for private funds and 3.5% for public funds.