Average purchasing power in Romania is 51% below European average (GfK study)

Romania has an average purchasing power of 8,017 euros per capita this year, 51% below the European average, which places it the 31st among the 42 countries included in the GfK Purchasing study Power Europe 2022.

According to the study, compared to the previous year, the gap between counties with high purchasing power and those with low purchasing power increased even more this year. In the top 10 rankings, Bucharest is clearly the leader with a per capita purchasing power of 15,482 euros.

"This means that the residents of the capital have more than 93% more purchasing power than the national average and 3.6 times more than the residents of Vaslui County, which has the lowest purchasing power in terms of spending and saving. Here, the net disposable income is only 4,728 euros, which represents approximately 53% of the national average," states a GfK press release.

All counties in the top 10 have an above-average purchasing power per capita. With a spending potential of 8,191 euros per inhabitant, Prahova County, in the tenth place, comes closest to the national average, but is still 2.2% above it. All the other 32 counties, which constitute more than three quarters of all counties, are below the national average.

Most of the counties in the top 10 are the same as the previous year, with only a few changes in the rankings. In 2022, Cluj overtook Timisoara to move into second place with a per capita purchasing power of 11,643 euros, while the counties of Arges and Arad changed their places to seventh and eighth.

According to the GfK study, the average purchasing power per capita in Europe in 2022 is 16,344 euros.

The "GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2022" study is available for 42 European countries, with details down to the level of regions, municipalities and postal codes, together with data on inhabitants and households, as well as digital maps.