BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30. The World Bank has revised downward its economic growth forecasts for Romania, projecting only modest recovery over the next two years amid ongoing regional headwinds and domestic challenges, Trend reports.
In its latest outlook, the bank expects Romania’s GDP to grow by 1.3 percent in 2025, down from an earlier projection of 2.1 percent in January. Growth is forecast to rise slightly to 1.9 percent in 2026, also a downward revision of 0.7 percentage points.
The downgrade reflects persistent trade policy uncertainty, rising barriers to trade, and indirect spillovers from sluggish euro area supply chains - all of which are expected to weigh on the pace of recovery in Central Europe, including Romania.
After rebounding strongly in 2021 and 2022 with growth rates of 5.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, Romania’s economy has since slowed markedly. Growth decelerated to 2.4 percent in 2023, and is estimated to reach just 0.9 percent in 2024.
The World Bank also points to domestic political uncertainty, weak industrial output in the eurozone, and diminished fiscal support as key factors constraining Romania’s near-term growth potential. Although Central Europe as a whole is expected to see only modest improvement in 2025-26 - averaging around 2.7 percent growth - Romania is projected to underperform that regional trend.
