Romanians’ consumption of services shrinks by 9.1% y/y in H1

24 August 2026 The volume of services rendered to Romanian households shrank by 9.1% y/y in the first half of the year (H1), a slight improvement from -9.9% y/y reported in Q1, according to the statistics office INS. For the same period last year, INS reported a marginal 0.2% y/y advance. The decline in services consumption came alongside a 5.6% year-on-year fall in retail sales during the first half, with the non-food segment contracting by 7.6%. The simultaneous weakness in goods and services consumption points to a broader reduction in discretionary spending amid lower real incomes and greater uncertainty over household finances. This year in the first half, the volume of services for households decreased significantly for the segments of gambling (-16% y/y), hairdressing (-13.9% y/y) a