The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods shrank by EUR536 million to EUR13.2 billion, while the surplus on services recorded a similar value year-over-year in January-May 2026, reaching EUR5.6 billion.
In terms of services, the IT&C sector saw the highest surplus, of EUR3 billion in January-May 2026, close to the EUR2.8 billion level recorded in January-May 2025, followed by the transport sector with a surplus of EUR2.7 billion, higher by almost EUR200 million year-over-year. The deficit in the tourism-travel sector widened to EUR2 million in January-May 2026.
The primary income balance, which includes compensation of employees, investment income (direct investment, portfolio investment, other investment) and other primary income (taxes, subsidies), recorded a deficit of EUR3.7 billion in January-May 2026, higher by EUR146 million than in the year-ago period.
The secondary income balance, which includes current private transfers and transfers of the general government, recorded a deficit of EUR62 million in January-May 2026, significantly lower than EUR326 million recorded in January-May 2025.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at EUR2.19 billion in January-May 2026, compared to EUR2.91 billion in January-May 2025. Of the overall FDI, equity stakes (including estimated net reinvestment of earnings) amounted to EUR2.54 billion, while intra-group lending reached a net negative value of EUR345 million, central bank data also show.
Romania’s total external debt (public and private) increased by EUR2.45 billion in January-May 2026, up to EUR230.9 billion, central bank data also show on July 15. In May 2026 alone, the country’s external debt grew by EUR1.36 billion mostly due to an increase in the long-term debt.
Long-term external debt stood at EUR183.9 billion on May 31, 2026, up 2% versus end-2025, accounting for nearly 80% of total external debt. Short-term external debt stood at EUR47 billion on May 31, 2026, down 2.4% versus end-2025, accounting for 20.4% of total external debt.
Long-term external debt service ratio stood at 15.5% in January-May 2026, lower than 18.4% in 2025. At end-May 2026, goods and services import cover ran at 6.0 months, similar to the value recorded at end-2025.
At end-May 2026, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity stood at 102.4%, versus 104.4% at end-2025.