2022 saw limited deliveries of new modern retail projects, adding to the overall existing retail surface only 77,000 square meters, which is about half the initially estimated delivery, Colliers reports.
This is the second lowest figure in almost two decades, being a substantial decrease from the 102,000 square meters recorded in 2021.
In terms of performance of the retailers, most retail categories registered good results in 2022 and profitability level in Romania remains one of the highest in the European Union.
The 2022 biggest addition was the extension of the newly rebranded Colosseum Mall Bucharest (16,500 square meters), followed by Scallier’s Funshop Retail Park in Timisoara (10,800 square meters).
The bulk of deliveries came via retail parks, with another noteworthy aspect that almost half of the newly added GLA came from the expansion of existing schemes.
Currently, Romania has a total modern retail stock of approximately 4.1 million square meters, out of which over 2.7 million square meters in shopping centers and the rest mainly in retail parks.
Over 60% of the total modern retail area is concentrated in the top 10 largest cities, with above 200,000 inhabitants, but the gap is expected to reduce once the projects announced for the next 2 years will be delivered.