Mathilde Carlier
Research Expert covering transportation and logistics
Transport industry in Romania - Statistics & Facts
The Romanian transport industry records one of the largest workforces and company volumes in the European Union (EU), making the Southeastern European country one of the cornerstones of the EU transport sector. As of 2020, around 383,400 people worked in the Romanian transport industry, representing approximately two percent of Romania's total population that year. Romania was the seventh EU country with the largest transport industry workforce and the seventh EU country with the most enterprises operating within this industry. Road freight transport plays a key role in 'Romania's transport sector, in part because Romania provides transport between third countries in the region through international long-distance transport. Partly due to the crucial nature of Romania's road freight for the European Union, the European Commission approved a 60.7 million euro scheme to support haulage and bus companies in the country within the context of 'Russia's war on Ukraine.
While Grup Feroviar Român was the only freight company with revenues over one billion Romanian lei, the gap between freight companies was not as steep as the one recorded in the logistics sector. In 2022, Aquila Part Prod reported revenues of over 2.1 billion Romanian lei, while all other leading logistics industries in the ranking reported a 2022 revenue of under one billion Romanian lei.
Road freight is the leader in goods transportation in Romania
Around 324.5 million metric tons of goods were hauled across Romanian roads in 2022, representing a small increase from 2021. In contrast, maritime and railway freight had decreased throughout the period. Maritime freight accounted for some 60.3 million metric tons of goods hauled in the country, which was five times less than 'Romania's road freight volume. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most new freight transport vehicles were registered in the Bucharest-Ilfov region, followed by the North-West and North-East regions. However, despite the high road freight volumes, the three freight transport companies with the largest revenue were rail freight and maritime freight enterprises. International Alexander, with a 2022 revenue of 635.6 million Romanian lei, ranked fourth across freight type but first when looking strictly at Romanian road freight companies.While Grup Feroviar Român was the only freight company with revenues over one billion Romanian lei, the gap between freight companies was not as steep as the one recorded in the logistics sector. In 2022, Aquila Part Prod reported revenues of over 2.1 billion Romanian lei, while all other leading logistics industries in the ranking reported a 2022 revenue of under one billion Romanian lei.
A passenger market different from the European average
Romania had one of the lowest motorization rates in Europe in 2021, right below Latvia and Hungary. However, most of the passenger-kilometers traveled by land in Romania in 2021 were made by passenger cars, of which nearly 128,000 were sold in 2022. This denotes a certain reliance on automobiles despite the lower ratio of cars per 1,000 inhabitants. The Romanian marque Dacia, a Renault Group subsidiary, was the most popular car brand in the country, followed by two Asian brands. This contrasts with the European tendency to prefer European brands. Based on a survey by Statista Consumer Insights, local public transportation was the most common type of mobility service used by Romanian consumers as of June 2023, excluding passenger cars. Buses and minibusses were the most popular local public transport in 2022, hauling nearly 1.1 million passengers on Romanian roads. This volume compares to around 70.4 million long-haul train passengers that same year.
