Romania’s GDP virtually flat for third consecutive quarter

17 August 2026 Romania’s seasonally adjusted GDP remained constant in the second quarter of 2026, compared to Q1, and was 2% y/y lower than in the same period of 2025, according to flash estimate data published by the statistics office INS. After the marginal 0.1% q/q contraction in Q1, Romania’s economic activity remained for the third consecutive quarter roughly at the same level – which is the same level as that of Q2 2024. The country’s GDP in the whole first half of the year (H1) contracted by 1.6% y/y. Under the national methodology (that uses the previous year period’s prices for GDP aggregation, as opposed to the whole year’s average prices used by Eurostat), Romania’s GDP decreased by only 0.4% y/y in Q2, after the 1.2% y/y decline in Q1 – resulting in a milder 0.8% y/y annual eco