By Magda Purice
Romanians spent approximately €40 billion in large retail chains last year, corresponding to a growth rate of 7.1% vs 2023. The 2024 growth rate marked a slowdown compared with 2023 (+11.1% vs 2022), but remained above inflation, according to the Romania Retail Snapshot 2025 issued by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company. The study is based on the financial results of 123 retailers present in Romania across 13 different segments.
The major food stores continue to account for the largest share of spending—€24 billion, or 60.3% in the total. However, this segment only recorded a 5.2% increase in sales, below the 2024 annual inflation rate of 5.6%.
The largest share of spending is still in supermarkets and hypermarkets – 24 billion euros, representing 60.3% of the total, a segment that, however, recorded a sales increase of only 5.2%, below the average inflation rate which last year stood at 5.6%. The second largest share of spending by Romanians in 2024 was in DIY stores (4.3 billion euros, respectively 10.9%), followed by electro-IT (3.6 billion euros, respectively 9.1%) and fashion (2.5 billion euros, 6.2%).
The smallest shares in the shopping basket are held by spending on entertainment activities – cinema, children’s playgrounds, multifunctional centers (Therme Bucharest), a new segment included in the annual study. Jewelry (237 million euros, 0.6% of total sales), shoe stores (410 million euros, 1%) and cosmetics (569 million euros, 1.4%) also recorded among the lowest shares in the amounts spent by Romanians in 2024. All 13 segments analyzed recorded sales above those of 2024, with the largest increases being reported in the cosmetics segment (24%), specialty stores – pet shops, newspaper outlets, tobacco, etc. (20.6%), home and decoration (16%), footwear (15.5%), restaurants, bars and cafes (14.9%) and children’s items (13.5%).
The lowest turnover growth rates in 2024 compared to 2023 and below the inflation level were reported by the entertainment segments (+2.1%), sporting goods stores (+3.6%), DIY chains (+5%) and supermarket and hypermarket chains (+5.2%). It is worth noting, however, that 9 of the 13 areas analyzed reported sales increases higher than the inflation rate recorded in 2024. The 13 areas analyzed are FMCG (large hypermarket/supermarket chains), Fashion, DIY, Sporting Goods, Footwear, Children’s Goods, Jewelry, Home & Deco, Restaurants, Bars and Cafes, Cosmetics, Electro-IT, Entertainment, Specialized Stores. Together, the 123 retailers operate over 7,000 stores, most of which operate in retail projects such as malls, retail parks or shopping galleries.
“The results of the study show a change in the shopping behavior of Romanians in the last year. Although the share of spending on food and daily necessities remains high, the growth rate has slowed down, in favor of non-food products. This is a positive signal for the retail market, especially in the context in which most segments falling into the non-food category reported double-digit increases, which significantly favors retailers who want to expand in Romania. At the same time, our country is among the EU member states that reported a significant increase in retail trade in the first part of this year, with non-food products having an advance of 5.8%. Against the background of these indicators, developers continue to increase their retail portfolios, about 700,000 square meters of such spaces being in various stages of development, with deliveries expected in the period 2025 – 2030”, says Vlad Săftoiu, Head of Research, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
The average annual sales growth rate from 2019 to 2024 for the operators analyzed in the report was above the average annual inflation rate for that period (10.9% vs. 7.4%) for all 13 categories, with the highest growth rates recorded by the cosmetics segment (19.3%), specialty stores (19.1%) and restaurants, bars, cafes (16.4%). The increase in revenues obtained by large retailers was supported by both new store openings, but also by the increase in sales in physical stores and also by the online expansion of some of the operators.
The expansions of the retailers in question were also favored by the investments of developers in shopping centers and retail parks, developers who in the period 2024 – H1 2025 completed projects totaling approximately 340,000 square meters of new retail spaces, representing both new schemes and extensions of some already existing ones. Cushman & Wakefield Echinox is a real estate consulting company on the local market and the exclusive affiliate of Cushman & Wakefield in Romania, independently owned and operated. The team of over 60 professionals and collaborators provides services to investors, developers, owners and tenants. Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is one of the global leaders in commercial real estate services, with 52,000 employees in 400 offices in 60 countries. With revenues of $9.4 billion, the company’s main services are: asset and investment management consulting, capital markets, leasing, property management, tenant representation, project and valuation services.