Number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania
Romania: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 18.93 million people in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
18.93 million people
Change on year
up 0.8%
World rank
46th
of 120 countries
All-time high
23.16 million people
in 1989
All-time low
18.14 million people
in 2014
Years of data
23
1989–2023
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania, 1989–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
The most recent figure for number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania is 18.93 million people, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 0.8% on the previous year and up 3.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania peaked at 23.16 million people in 1989 and was at its lowest, 18.14 million people, in 2014.
That places Romania 46th out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 23.16 million people | — |
| 1992 | 22.79 million people | -1.6% |
| 1994 | 18.55 million people | -18.6% |
| 1995 | 21.89 million people | +18.0% |
| 1997 | 21.61 million people | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 18.85 million people | -12.8% |
| 2007 | 19.18 million people | +1.8% |
| 2008 | 19.30 million people | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 19.28 million people | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 18.97 million people | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 18.71 million people | -1.4% |
| 2012 | 18.38 million people | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 18.24 million people | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 18.14 million people | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 18.31 million people | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 18.67 million people | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 18.63 million people | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 18.75 million people | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 18.77 million people | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 18.80 million people | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 18.73 million people | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 18.77 million people | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 18.93 million people | +0.8% |
Romania compared with similar countries
- Romania's 18.93 million people is above the median for high income countries, which is 9.58 million people, 2.0× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Romania's 18.93 million people is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 8.39 million people, 2.3× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 23.16 million people | 23.16 million people | 23.16 million people | 1 |
| 1990s | 21.21 million people | 18.55 million people | 22.79 million people | 4 |
| 2000s | 19.15 million people | 18.85 million people | 19.30 million people | 4 |
| 2010s | 18.56 million people | 18.14 million people | 18.97 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.81 million people | 18.73 million people | 18.93 million people | 4 |
Countries ranked near Romania
More poverty & inequality data for Romania
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.71 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,021 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 10.64 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 27.54 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 27.5% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in Romania was 18.93 million people in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Romania?
- The highest recorded value was 23.16 million people in 1989.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Romania?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.14 million people in 2014.
- How does Romania rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- Romania ranks 46th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Romania?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Romania data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.