Romanians spent more than €42 billion in major retail chains in 2025, up 5.6% on 2024 and 77% above the 2019 level, according to the Romania Retail Snapshot 2026 report published by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, based on the financial results of 125 companies across 13 retail segments. Retailers recorded an average annual revenue growth of 10% between 2019 and 2025, outpacing cumulative inflation over the same period.
The supermarket and hypermarket segment led the market with €25.7 billion in sales, up 6.9% year-on-year and representing more than 60% of total turnover analysed. The DIY sector reached €4.2 billion (+4.8%), while Electronics & IT retailers generated €3.6 billion, broadly in line with 2024. The Fashion segment posted €2.7 billion, a 3.3% annual increase. The strongest growth came from Cosmetics (+12.8%) and Food & Beverage (+11.2%), reflecting consumer demand for personal care products and experience-driven spending. In total, 11 of the 13 segments reported revenue growth in 2025.
"The 2025 results illustrate the Romanian retail market resilience and its ability to generate growth even in a challenging economic environment. Beyond the strong performance of the Grocery segment, we are witnessing significant momentum in categories such as Cosmetics and Food & Beverage, reflecting a maturing consumer market and an increasing demand for modern retail concepts and experiences," said Dana Radoveneanu, Head of Retail Agency at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
Developer activity supported retailer expansion, with approximately 266,000 sqm of modern retail space delivered between 2025 and H1 2026, comprising new schemes and extensions of existing ones. In H1 2026 alone, around 60,000 sqm was completed through the expansion of a shopping centre and the opening of four retail parks in cities including Bucharest, Bacău, Cluj-Napoca and Drobeta-Turnu Severin. These deliveries took place against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop, with Romania recording a 0.8% GDP contraction in H1 2026 and annual inflation reaching 10.4%, which led to a 5.6% decline in retail sales during that period.
Romania's modern retail stock stands at approximately 4.92 million sqm, of which around 1.34 million sqm is located in Bucharest. Prime rents remained stable, with headline rates at approximately €90 per sqm per month on Calea Victoriei and in dominant Bucharest shopping centres, while major regional cities recorded rents of between €50 and €65 per sqm per month for units of 100 to 200 sqm on ground-floor locations.
