Four in ten Romanians (37.8%) cannot afford an unexpected financial expense, according to Eurostat data published on Sunday, October 11, for the year 2025.
Romania had the fifth-highest share of citizens who could not face unexpected expenses if necessary in the EU, after Greece (50.5%), Latvia (43.7%), Bulgaria (42.4%) and Lithuania (41.1% – provisional data).
In 2019, 44% of Romania’s population was in this situation, while in 2024, Eurostat placed Romania among the countries where at least 40% of the population was affected, alongside Bulgaria, Latvia, Greece and Lithuania.
At the European level, the long-term trend is one of improvement: from a peak of 40% in 2012, following the financial crisis, the share fell to 30.8% in 2019, rose to 32.5% during the pandemic, and reached 30.0% in 2024.
Meanwhile, the EU average stood at 29.2% in 2025.
Moreover, according to Eurostat, only 0.4% of Romanians are behind on mortgage or rent payments, the lowest level in the EU. That is because only 1.5% of Romania’s population has a mortgage, compared with 58.1% in the Netherlands.
However, when utility bills and installment payments for purchases are also included, 15.3% of Romanians are late with payments, compared with the EU average of 9.2%.