Romania's working population: below the European average, but showing signs of improvement

Romania ranks among the countries with the lowest rates of active population in the European Union, with 66% of the population aged 15-64 active compared to the EU27 average of 74% in 2023. Furthermore, within this already low labor force participation rate, our country has a higher proportion of unemployed people compared to most Member States.

This situation is due to several factors, including the high rate of emigration among the working-age population, especially after Romania's entry into the EU, the inactive population due to medical reasons, disability or invalidity, the decline in birth rates in the decades after 1989, and the phenomenon of population aging.

According to Eurostat, the active population includes all persons in the age group who provide labor available for the production of goods and services in the country, regardless of whether this work is remunerated or not. The inactive population generally includes people in unpaid education or training, early retirees, individuals with illnesses or disabilities, and people who provide unpaid care for relatives or people with special needs. A low active population means that fewer people of working age are engaged in formal economic activities, which reduces the economic potential of society as a whole.

Of the 12.2 million Romanian residents aged between 15 and 64, approximately 8.06 million are considered to be part of the labor force, according to the Eurostat definition. This represents 66% of the total population, significantly below the EU27 average of 74%. By comparison, in Sweden the active population reaches 84%, and in Poland and Bulgaria it exceeds 70%.

According to Eurostat's definition, the active population consists of two categories: the employed population, which carries out activities that generate goods or services, and the unemployed population, which is looking for a job. Of the 8.06 million Romanians in the active population in 2023, only 6.5 million were employed in official jobs, with the rest being people in unpaid activities or self-employed workers. Thus, the employment rate of people aged 15 to 64 in the entire population of Romania was 54%, significantly below the European average of 60%. Sweden and Germany top the ranking, with over 70% of the population in this category having formal jobs, while Bulgaria, Poland, and Spain are at around 60%.

The difference between the population employed in an official job and the total active population is given by the occupied but unemployed population, according to the Eurostat definition. The difference between the population employed in a formal job and the total working-age population is given by the employed but not employed population, according to Eurostat's definition. This population also includes unpaid domestic workers, over 200,000 people in Romania, almost a fifth of the total number of unpaid domestic workers considered employed in the entire European Union. In addition to these, the employed population also covers self-employed workers, numbering approximately 840,000 people in Romania. As shown in another Social Monitor study, this category is dominated in Romania by subsistence farmers, approximately 70% of whom were at risk of poverty in 2021.

Even though the current employment situation in Romania is misleading, Eurostat figures show that it has improved significantly over time. The number of unpaid domestic workers in Romania was 891,000 in 2014, and by 2023, this number had fallen to 209,000. Similarly, the number of officially employed workers has increased from 5.8 million in 2014 to 6.5 million in 2023.

This dynamic reflects a positive trajectory for the labor market in Romania, even though the current figures still conceal significant vulnerabilities that are almost unique in the European Union.

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Data processing and text design: Daniel Sandu

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL