More than 60% of the total modern retail space stock is concentrated in the ten largest cities of the country, with more than 200,000 people.
Colliers data show that 2023 ended with one of the best results since 2011 in terms of new retail project deliveries, adding around 220,000 square meters to total retail space, more than double compared to the previous two years.
For both retailers and shopping center owners, 2023 was also another good year for sales, and the level of profitability in Romania remains one of the highest in the European Union. At the same time, Colliers’ consultants see a growing interest from developers in large mall or mixed-use projects in the coming years.
„2023 was a good year for both retailers and owners. Based on Eurostat data, Romania offers some of the highest profit margins in the EU for a variety of types of goods, from clothing to footwear to toys and pharmaceuticals,” says Liana Dumitru, Director Retail Agency at Colliers.
“While the cost of risk is also higher than in other countries, which can impact the bottom line when taking out a loan, for example, we consider these positive results a confirmation of a market still insufficiently covered in terms of retail schemes and a market that can still welcome new players.”
According to the report, this year shows a decline in the market compared with 2023, with less than 90,000 square meters of new modern retail projects announced, more than half of which come from a single project – Arges Mall in Pitesti.
However, the outlook remains encouraging, with several large and dominant shopping centers expected to add several hundred thousand lettable square meters to the modern retail space stock between 2025-2028.
Romania remains an undersupplied market not only compared with Western European countries, but also with Central and Eastern European countries.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)