Consumption levels reached an all-time high in 2024, with Eurostat data revealing a 13% year-on-year increase in non-food purchases, bringing sales to 60% above the 2018-2019 average. Romania is recording a 58% increase in the volume of non-food retail sales, the highest in the European Union.
Modern shopping centres with a total leasable area of more than 160,000 square metres were built last year, according to preliminary data from Colliers. Pitesti was in the spotlight in 2024, attracting almost 45% of the new space added to the national stock, which reached around 4.7 million square metres.
A preliminary estimate for 2025 is for around 200,000 square metres of new deliveries, including the 62,000 square metre expansion of the Mall of Moldova in Iasi by Prime Kapital/MAS REI. Thus, by the end of 2026, Romania could exceed the threshold of 5 million square metres of retail space.
New entrants on the Romanian market in 2024 include Rituals Cosmetics and Kiko Milano in the cosmetics sector, Budmil and Bogner in the fashion sector, Happy Restaurants and Hesburger in the restaurant sector. Additionally, Poland’s largest food retailer specializing in proximity concepts, Żabka, has entered the local market this year with its Froo brand.