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 produced by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
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 second-largest share pertained to DIY stores (€4.3 billion, 10.9%), a segment followed by Electro IT (€3.6 billion, 9.1%) and Fashion (€2.5 billion, 6.2%). The lowest spending was related to Entertainment – a segment included for the first time in the latest edition of the report.
Jewelry (€237 million, 0.6%), Footwear (€410 million, 1%) and Cosmetics (€569 million, 1.4%) were also among the segments with a lower spending share in the overall shopping basked in Romania across 2024.
All retail segments recorded higher y-o-y turnovers in 2024, with the largest increases being reported by the Cosmetics (24%), Specialized Stores (20.6%), Home & Deco (16%), Footwear (15.5%), Food & Beverage (14.9%) and Kids & Toys (13.5%).
The lowest growth rates in 2024 vs 2023 – and below inflation – were reported by Entertainment (+2.1%), Sports (+3.6%), DIY (+5%) and Food Stores (+5.2%). Notably, 9 out of the 13 analyzed segments reported sales growth above the 2024 inflation rate.
The 13 segments are Food Stores (major hypermarket/ supermarket chains), Fashion, DIY, Sports, Footwear, Kids & Toys, Jewelry, Home & Deco, Food & Beverage, Cosmetics, Electro-IT, Entertainment and Specialized Stores. Together, the 123 retailers have more than 7,000 stores in Romania, located mainly in shopping centers, retail parks and commercial galleries.