Constanta, the sixth most powerful county in Romania by local companies’ business, posted a 63% increase in GDP in 2012-2017, compared with a 46% national average, according to ZF’s calculations based on Romania’s National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis data.
The year 2012 is when the A2 highway was completed, which connects the seaside county with Bucharest, and the importance of infrastructure development in the economic growth of the region can be best seen in statistics.
The nominal GDP of Constanta county rose by 13% in 2008-2012, before the completion of the highway, a slower growth than the national average of 14%.
Constanta is the most powerful county by GDP in the South-East region, which includes Braila, Buzau, Galati, Tulcea and Vrancea, with a total GDP of 90 billion lei (EUR19.34 billion).
Constanta generates three times the GDP of the second most powerful county in the region, Galati. Constanta is also the only county connected to Bucharest by highway.
Infrastructure investments contribute to economic development as a rule and the major industrial hubs were built around cities either connected to Bucharest or the west of the country via a highway or directly to the western border of Romania from where companies can easily transport products to foreign partners.
Another example where the highway drove economic development is Prahova, connected by highway as of 2012 (though that particular highway has not been completed yet). Its GDP has gone up 65% since, according to ZF’s calculations based on the National Commission for Prognosis data.
Meanwhile development of counties like Iasi and Vrancea has been slower, with the GDP growing by 29% and 31%. On the other hand, counties like Timis and Cluj have seen significant development in 2012-2017, with the GDP growth in the latter reaching 80%. (EUR1=RON4.6513)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)