Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Romania
Romania: Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median was 9.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Romania, 1989–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Romania is 9.8%, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 28.3% on the previous year and down 37.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Romania peaked at 16.2% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 3.0%, in 1989.
That places Romania 26th out of 120 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Romania, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 3.0% | — |
| 1992 | 4.2% | +38.2% |
| 1994 | 3.8% | -9.4% |
| 1995 | 5.9% | +54.9% |
| 1997 | 5.5% | -6.8% |
| 2006 | 14.5% | +163.2% |
| 2007 | 12.4% | -14.4% |
| 2008 | 11.9% | -4.1% |
| 2009 | 11.4% | -3.9% |
| 2010 | 12.4% | +8.4% |
| 2011 | 12.7% | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 13.7% | +8.1% |
| 2013 | 15.7% | +14.7% |
| 2014 | 16.2% | +2.9% |
| 2015 | 15.5% | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 14.0% | -9.3% |
| 2017 | 13.4% | -4.3% |
| 2018 | 12.9% | -3.8% |
| 2019 | 12.6% | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 13.0% | +3.2% |
| 2021 | 10.5% | -19.0% |
| 2022 | 13.7% | +29.8% |
| 2023 | 9.8% | -28.3% |
Romania compared with similar countries
- Romania's 9.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 6.5%, 1.5× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Romania's 9.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 5.6%, 1.7× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median 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 | +163.2% | 5.5% | 14.5% |
| 1995 | +54.9% | 3.8% | 5.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 1 |
| 1990s | 4.9% | 3.8% | 5.9% | 4 |
| 2000s | 12.5% | 11.4% | 14.5% | 4 |
| 2010s | 13.9% | 12.4% | 16.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.7% | 9.8% | 13.7% | 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 relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Romania?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Romania was 9.8% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Romania?
- The highest recorded value was 16.2% in 2014.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Romania?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.0% in 1989.
- How does Romania rank for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median?
- Romania ranks 26th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median rising or falling in Romania?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.7%. 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 (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median. 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
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 40% of the median.