The growth in 2008-2016 stood at almost 60%, double as much as in Poland and three times higher than in Germany, ZF has calculated from the data supplied by market research company Euromonitor.
Bulgaria saw a similar trend, and the country is at the bottom of the EU living standards ranking along with Romania. The two countries have the lowest average wage and purchasing power in the entire EU. Net average wage in Romania is less than EUR450 per month, five or six times lower than in Germany.
However, when it comes to the price of food, as well as well personal and home care products they are similar to those in the West. Most often a detergent box costs the same in Romania as in Poland and Germany. For instance, a 2-kilo Ariel Color bag for use in washing machines costs 17.49 lei (almost EUR4) in Carrefour Romania’s online store, the same as on other markets.
Three international giants – Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Henkel, dominate the Romanian laundry care product market, according to Euromonitor data. Private labels are just beginning, so their market share is less than 10%. Local producers and distributors are very small. The best-selling brands remain Tide, Ariel (both of which P&G brands), Dero (Unilever) and Persil (Henkel), Euromonitor statistics show. Dero is the only local brand (acquired by Unilever), while the rest are international brands.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)