Romania Retail Snapshot 2026
Bucharest, August 2026: Romania’s consumer spending continued to support the retail sector expansion in 2025 despite inflationary pressures. Romanians spent more than €42 billion in major retail chains in 2025, a total 5.6% higher than in 2024 and 77% above the 2019 level, according to the Romania Retail Snapshot 2026 published by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company. The study was based on the financial results of 125 companies operating across 13 retail segments.
Moreover, these retailers recorded an average annual revenue growth rate of 10% between 2019 and 2025, outperforming the cumulative inflation over the same period.
The supermarket and hypermarket segment further strengthened its position as the market leader, generating €25.7 billion in sales, up 6.9% year-on-year, accounting for more than 60% of the total turnover analyzed. Meanwhile, the DIY sector continued its expansion, reaching €4.2 billion in sales (+4.8%), while Electronics & IT retailers generated revenues of €3.6 billion, remaining broadly in line with 2024 levels.
The Fashion segment posted revenues of €2.7 billion, reflecting a 3.3% annual increase, supported by a broad retailer base and the ongoing development of modern retail schemes.
The strongest growth rates were recorded by the Cosmetics (+12.8%) and Food & Beverage (+11.2%) segments, highlighting the consumers’ increasing focus on personal care products and experience-driven spending, including dining and social activities.
The performances recorded by these categories confirm the continued diversification of consumer spending and support the retailers’ expansion strategies within Romania’s leading retail destinations.
The 13 retail segments analyzed include FMCG (major hypermarket and supermarket chains), Fashion, DIY, Sporting Goods, Footwear, Children’s Products, Jewelry, Home & Deco, Restaurants, Bars & Cafés, Cosmetics, Electronics & IT, Entertainment, and Specialized Stores. Together, the 125 retailers operate more than 8,000 stores, the majority of which being located shopping centers, retail parks, and commercial galleries.
Dana Radoveneanu, Head of Retail Agency, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: “The 2025 results illustrate the Romanian retail market resilience and its ability to generate growth even in a challenging economic environment. Beyond the strong performance of the Grocery segment, we are witnessing significant momentum in categories such as Cosmetics and Food & Beverage, reflecting a maturing consumer market and an increasing demand for modern retail concepts and experiences. These trends continue to support the retailers’ expansion plans and sustain demand for high-performing retail spaces across the country’s major cities.”
Another positive signal is that 11 of the 13 analyzed segments reported revenue growth in 2025, demonstrating that market expansion is driven not only by essential goods categories but also by discretionary spending. This broad-based growth strengthens retailer and investor confidence and allow for further investments in store network expansions and commercial real estate developments.
The continued retail sales growth, at a pace exceeding the long-term inflation trends across numerous categories, creates favourable conditions for retailer expansion and provides a strong demand for prime retail spaces in both Bucharest and the country’s major regional cities.
The turnover growth reported by the large retailers was sustained both through expansions and organically, due to a clear surge in sales in physical stores and of the significant online presence of most operators.
These expansions were the direct result of the developers’ activity, as they delivered approximately 266,000 sq. m of modern retail premises between 2025 and H1 2026, consisting of both new schemes and expansions/ major refurbishments of existing ones.
In H1 2026 alone, approximately 60,000 sq. m of new retail spaces was completed through the expansion of a shopping centre and the opening of four retail parks in cities such as Bucharest, Bacau, Cluj-Napoca, and Drobeta-Turnu Severin, according to the Romanian Retail Marketbeat Q2 2026 .
These developments occurred against a less favourable economic backdrop. Romania recorded a 0.8% GDP contraction in H1 2026, while the annual inflation reached 10.4%, impacting purchasing power and leading to a 5.6% decline in retail sales during the analyzed period.
Romania’s modern retail stock reached approximately 4.92 million sq. m, of which around 1.34 million sq. m are concentrated in Bucharest.
The prime headline rents remained stable in Q2, with the benchmarks standing at €90/ sq. m/ month in both high street spaces on Calea Victoriei and in the dominant Bucharest shopping centers, while the corresponding values in the major regional cities were generally ranging between € 50 – 65 / sq. m/ month for 100 – 200 sq. m spaces located at the ground floors of those respective units.
