That dollar amount reflects a 23.5% upturn compared to $88.4 billion worth of Romanian products exported 5 years earlier during 2021.
Year over year, the overall value of Romanian exported products grew by 8.7% from $100.4 billion in 2024.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2025, the Romanian leu appreciated by 6.7% against the US dollar since 2021 but depreciated by -3.1% from 2024 to 2025. Romania’s weaker local currency after 2024 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.
Top International Customers for Romanian Exports
The latest available country-specific data shows that 69.5% of products exported from Romania was bought by importers in: Germany (20% of the Romanian total), Italy (8.9%), France (6.3%), Hungary (5.5%), Bulgaria (4.3%), Netherlands (4.1%), Türkiye (4%), Poland (4%), United Kingdom (3.2%), Czech Republic (3.2%), Moldova (3%) and Spain (2.9%).
From a continental perspective, 83.9% of Romania’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 10.2% was sold to importers in Asia.
Romania shipped another 2.8% worth of goods to buyers in North America.
Smaller percentages went to customers located in Africa (2.6%), Latin America (0.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Fellow EU member states bought 71.8% of all Romanian export sales in 2025.
Given Romania’s population of 18.8 million people, its total US$109.1 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $5,800 for every resident in the East European country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $5,300 per person one year earlier for 2024.
Romania’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Romanian global shipments during 2025. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Romania.
- Vehicles: US$19.2 billion (17.6% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $19 billion (17.4%)
- Machinery including computers: $10.8 billion (9.9%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $6.5 billion (5.9%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $4 billion (3.7%)
- Cereals: $3.5 billion (3.2%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $3.2 billion (3%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $3.1 billion (2.8%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $2.8 billion (2.6%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $2.6 billion (2.4%)
Romania’s top 10 exports generated over two-thirds (68.5%) of the overall value of Romanian shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 32% from 2024 to 2025.
In second place for improving export sales were vehicles via a 11% advance.
Romania’s shipments of rubber, both as materials and including items made from rubber, posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 10.1%.
The lone decliner among Romania’s top 10 export categories was the articles made from iron or steel grouping, thanks to a -8.3% year-over-year drop.
At the more detailed 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, the most valuable Romanian export products are cars (8% of Romania’s export total), automobile parts or accessories (7.9%), insulated wire or cable (4%), electrical and optical circuit boards or panels (3.8%), processed petroleum oils (2.7%), new rubber tires (2.5%), medication mixes in dosage (1.9%), wheat (1.8%), seats excluding barber or dentist chairs (1.5%), then electric water heaters and hair dryers (1.4%).
Products Generating Romania’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Romanian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports reflect the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Vehicles: US$4.3 billion (Up by 28.2% since 2024)
- Cereals: $3 billion (Up by 14.1%)
- Oil seeds: $1.8 billion (Up by 105.8%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $1.7 billion (Up by 4.7%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $1.4 billion (Up by 21.3%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: $951.5 million (Up by 0.0%)
- Wood: $926.1 million (Down by -2.7%)
- Ships, boats: $856.9 million (Up by 21.2%)
- Live animals: $422.1 million (Up by 35.9%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $192.5 million (Reversing a -$125.9 million deficit)
Romania has highly positive net exports in the international trade of vehicles and cereals–historically corn, wheat and barley. In turn, these cashflows indicate Romania’s strong competitive advantages under the related product categories.
Products Causing Romania’s Worst Trade Deficits
Romania incurred an overall -US$36.9 billion trade deficit during 2025, increasing by 2.1% from the -$36.1 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2024.
Below are exports from Romania that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Romania’s goods trail Romanian importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$5.5 billion (Up by 7.4% since 2024)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$5.2 billion (Down by -17.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$5.1 billion (Up by 12.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$4 billion (Up by 3.7%)
- Iron, steel: -$3.2 billion (Up by 39.1%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$3.1 billion (Up by 80.3%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$1.8 billion (Up by 37.5%)
- Other chemical goods: -$1.7 billion (Up by 8%)
- Organic chemicals: -$1.3 billion (Down by -1%)
- Fruits, nuts: -$1.2 billion (Up by 14.6%)
Historically, Romania has notably negative net exports and therefore international trade deficits under the machinery including computers and the mineral fuels-related product categories. The latter deficits were historically for crude oil, petroleum gases and electricity.
Romanian Export Companies
Not one Romanian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia also lists Romanian companies engaged in international trade. Selected examples are shown below.
- Antibiotice Iași (pharmaceuticals)
- Arctic S.A. (household appliances)
- Automobile Dacia (cars)
- Daewoo-Mangalia Heavy Industries DMHI (ships)
- European Drinks & Foods (food, beverages)
- Farmec (cosmetics, personal hygiene)
- Jolidon (lingerie, swimsuits)
- Roman (trucks, buses)
- Romstal (sanitary wear)
- Tehnoton (home electronics, machinery)
In macroeconomic terms, Romania’s total exported goods represent 11.8% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($926.8 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 11.8% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 11.3% for 2024. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Romania’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Romania’s unemployment rate averaged 5.4% in 2025, down from an average 5.433% one year earlier for 2024 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Romania’s capital city is Bucharest.
See also Romania’s Top Trading Partners, Moldova’s Top 10 Exports, Hungary’s Top 10 Exports and Poland’s Top Trading Partners<
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Romania. Accessed on May 6, 2026
EXCHANGE-RATES.org, Romanian Leu (RON) To US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rate History. Accessed on May 6, 2026
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 6, 2026
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 6, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 6, 2026
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 6, 2026
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 6, 2026
Wikipedia, Romania. Accessed on May 6, 2026
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Romania. Accessed on May 6, 2026
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 6, 2026