Internet Access and Usage in Romania

Romania has made significant progress in terms of internet access and usage, with household connectivity now exceeding the European Union average. However, internet access is not accompanied by a comparable level of digital skills among the population. Romania ranks last in the EU in terms of the proportion of people with basic or above-basic digital skills, according to Eurostat data from 2025.

Good Level of Connectivity

Romania has a good level of internet connectivity among households, at 95.47% in 2025, a significant increase of nearly 10 percentage points compared to 2020, when the rate was 86.24%. These figures place us 12th out of 27 member states, above the EU average of 94.76%. Among the countries with the highest levels of internet access are the Netherlands (99.28%), Luxembourg (99%), and Malta (97.77%). At the other end of the spectrum are Croatia (87.91%), Greece (88.73%), and Lithuania (89.35%).

Internet Use

In terms of internet use among the general population, Romania lags slightly behind Western and Northern European countries, with 93.15% of Romanians using the internet in 2025. However, the increase was dramatic compared to 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when only 78.46% of Romanians reported using the internet.

The countries at the top of the rankings in terms of internet usage are Ireland (99.78%), Denmark (99.71%), and the Netherlands (99.71%), while Croatia (85.9%), Bulgaria (86.85%), and Greece (89.15%) rank at the bottom.

The data also shows that the percentage of Romanians who have never used the internet has dropped to just 4.91%, representing a dramatic decrease compared to 2020, when the percentage was 14.05%. However, Romania remains below the EU average for this indicator. The highest percentages are found among the populations of Croatia (10.33%), Portugal (9.56%), and Greece (9.14%). The lowest percentages of people who have never used the internet are in Ireland (0.2%), the Netherlands (0.25%), and Sweden (0.34%).

Poor Digital Skills

Despite the progress made between 2020 and 2025 in terms of the population’s access to the internet, the greatest challenge in Romania remains the development of digital skills. Only one-third of the population (31.84%) possesses basic or advanced digital skills, placing Romania last, considerably behind the EU average of 60.4%.

Bulgaria (38.26%), Slovenia (46.5%), and Latvia (48.43%) are also near the bottom of the rankings, while the top positions are held by the Netherlands (83.61%), Ireland (82.82%), and Denmark (81.45%).

Digital skills are assessed based on the activities that people aged 16 to 74 perform online or using computer software, across five domains: finding and evaluating information and data, communication and collaboration, creating digital content, safety, and problem-solving.

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Data source: EUROSTAT

Internet access https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/tin00134?category=t_isoc.t_isoc_i.t_isoc_ici

Level of internet use https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/tin00028?category=t_isoc.t_isoc_i.t_isoc_iiu

People who have never used the Internet https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tin00093/default/table?lang=en&category=t_isoc.t_isoc_i.t_isoc_iiu

People with basic digital skills https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tepsr_sp410/default/table?lang=en&category=t_isoc.t_isoc_sk

Data processing and text design: Delia Bădoi

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL

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