The total monthly average income in Romania amounted to RON9,148 in the first quarter of 2025, in nominal terms, representing RON3,682 per person, up 6.8% per household and 7.5% per person, respectively, against the fourth quarter of 2024.
Compared with the first quarter of 2024, total monthly average income in Romania went up by 13.7% per household and by 14.7% per person, respectively.
In Q1/2025, total monthly average expenditure of the population reached RON7,667 per household, in nominal terms (RON3,086 per person) and accounted for 83.8% in total income, up RON390 per household from Q4/2024. Against the first quarter of 2024, total monthly average expenditure per household rose by 12.0% and by 13.1% per person, respectively.
In Q1/2025, the monthly average money income stood at RON8,578 per household (RON3,452 per person), up 7.8% from Q4/2024, and the in-kind income reached RON570 per household (RON229 per person), down 6.4% from Q4/2024.
Gross salaries and other salary rights amounted to RON6,257 per month per household and were the most important source of total income (68.40% of the total household income, higher by 2.4% percentage points compared to Q4/2024).
Significant contributions to the formation of the total household income came both from social benefits of RON1,874 per month per household (20.5% in Q1/2025, 21.0% in Q4/2024, respectively) and in-kind income (6.2% in Q1/2025, 7.1% in Q4/2024, respectively) consisting of the value of in-kind income obtained by employees and recipients of social benefits (1.1% in Q1/2025, and 1.7% in Q4/2024, respectively) and the value in lei of the food and non-food products consumed from own resources (5.1% in Q1/2025 and 5.4% in Q4/2024, respectively).
As regards the area of residence, the level of the total monthly average income per household in Q1/2025 was RON 10,469 in urban areas, 1.4 times more than in the rural area, and the income per person was RON4,352, 1.5 times more than in rural areas.
In terms of the structure of total income, in Q1/2025, in urban areas, the share of gross salaries and other salary rights in the total income was 73.7%, i.e. 13.4 percentage points more than in rural areas. In rural areas, the income from social benefits accounted for 22.0%, both in urban and rural areas. The share of the in-kind income was 11.6% in rural areas, i.e. 2.5% higher than in urban areas.
In Q4/2024, the monthly average money expenditure was RON7,199 per household (RON2,898 per person), 5.7% higher than in Q4/2024.
The equivalent value of the consumption of food and non-food products from own resources was, on average, RON467 per month per household (RON188 per person), higher by 1.0% compared to Q4/2024.
In Q4/2024, the main purposes of the expenditure incurred by households were consumption (money consumption expenditure and the equivalent value of the human consumption from own resources), with RON4,610 per month per household (60.1%), and the transfers to public and private administration and to social insurance budgets in the form of taxes, contributions, dues, fees with RON2,645 per household (34.5%), as well as meeting the needs related to household production (money expenditure and the equivalent value of the fodder-related consumption from own resources), with RON1394per household (1.7%).
Depending on the area of residence, there are differences in the level of the total monthly average expenditure. In urban areas, the monthly average expenditure per household was RON8,690, i.e. 1.3 times higher than in rural areas. This means that one person from an urban area spent, on average, RON3,612 per month, 1.4 times more than one person from a rural area.
In terms of the structure of the total expenditure, in urban areas, the share of the expenditure on taxes, contributions, dues and fees in the total expenditure was 37.5%, i.e. higher by 7.5 percentage points than in rural areas, while, in rural areas, the share of the equivalent value of the consumption of food and non-food products from own resources in the total expenditure was 10.8%, i.e. 3.6 times higher than in urban areas.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)