Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania
Romania: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income was 14.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania, 1989–2023
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ. Measured in %.
Analysis
Romania recorded 14.7% for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 16.5% on the previous year and down 29.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania peaked at 21.3% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 7.6%, in 1989.
That places Romania 35th out of 123 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 7.6% | — |
| 1992 | 9.3% | +22.4% |
| 1994 | 9.3% | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 11.2% | +20.4% |
| 1997 | 10.2% | -8.9% |
| 1998 | 11.0% | +7.8% |
| 1999 | 9.5% | -13.6% |
| 2000 | 9.6% | +1.1% |
| 2001 | 10.1% | +5.2% |
| 2002 | 10.6% | +5.0% |
| 2003 | 9.7% | -8.5% |
| 2004 | 10.7% | +10.3% |
| 2005 | 9.8% | -8.4% |
| 2006 | 20.1% | +105.1% |
| 2007 | 18.4% | -8.5% |
| 2008 | 17.0% | -7.6% |
| 2009 | 16.8% | -1.2% |
| 2010 | 17.9% | +6.5% |
| 2011 | 18.2% | +1.7% |
| 2012 | 19.0% | +4.4% |
| 2013 | 20.9% | +10.0% |
| 2014 | 21.3% | +1.9% |
| 2015 | 20.5% | -3.8% |
| 2016 | 18.8% | -8.3% |
| 2017 | 19.2% | +2.1% |
| 2018 | 18.1% | -5.7% |
| 2019 | 18.0% | -0.6% |
| 2020 | 18.0% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 17.0% | -5.6% |
| 2022 | 17.6% | +3.5% |
| 2023 | 14.7% | -16.5% |
Romania compared with similar countries
- Romania's 14.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 11.6%, 1.3× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Romania's 14.7% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 11.0%, 1.3× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | +105.1% | 9.8% | 20.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 7.6% | 7.6% | 7.6% | 1 |
| 1990s | 10.1% | 9.3% | 11.2% | 6 |
| 2000s | 13.3% | 9.6% | 20.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 19.2% | 17.9% | 21.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.8% | 14.7% | 18.0% | 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 proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania?
- Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Romania was 14.7% in 2023, according to World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ.
- What is the highest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Romania?
- The highest recorded value was 21.3% in 2014.
- What is the lowest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Romania?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.6% in 1989.
- How does Romania rank for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income?
- Romania ranks 35th out of 123 countries with data for 2023.
- Is proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income rising or falling in Romania?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Romania data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ, published as part of Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.