The survey has been conducted every three years since 2010 under the coordination of the European Central Bank, with the aim of collecting data on the financial situation, income, and consumption of households.
“Understanding financial behavior as thoroughly as possible—namely consumption, income, saving, and indebtedness levels—is important for underpinning monetary policy decisions and identifying risks to financial stability,” the central bank emphasized, adding that data collection from households starts in April 2026.
The statistical sample, provided by the statistics board, consists of approximately 12,300 households selected from 1,309 localities across all Romanian counties. The data collected will be used exclusively for statistical purposes and treated confidentially in accordance with applicable legal provisions.
The central bank also notes that personal data processing will comply with the provisions of EU Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data (GDPR).
Field implementation of the survey will be supported by representatives of the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy).
Interviewers will visit households included in the sample and assist respondents in understanding and completing the questionnaire prepared by the central bank.
The central bank seeks to gather detailed information about the location of dwellings (city center, between center and outskirts, suburban area, rural area, or isolated zone), and also targets an assessment of the household based on housing quality, size, land area, accessibility, and utility connections.
Households will be rated as luxury, middle class, modest, or very low income.