In the last 15 years, 5 million Romanians went abroad. But in 2023, 82,000 more nationals returned to the country than left.

Some 5 million Romanians have emigrated to the West since the country joined the European Union (EU) in 2007. Many would never consider returning to the country due to  limited opportunities, low wages and endemic corruption.

But the ‘return trend’ has been gaining momentum since 2022, Le Monde reports. In 2023, the number of Romanians returning exceed edthose who left the country by 82,000, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Most are young graduates who have come to take advantage of the economic boom that Romania has experienced since the start of the war in neighboring Ukraine, which has attracted major European and American investment in the energy, defense and new technology sectors.

In 2022, he was appointed Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization before taking over the reins of the Ministry of Energy, where he is working to transform Romania into an energy hub of the European Union (EU) thanks to nuclear and green energy.

“Many Romanians from the diaspora want to return with their networks and capital to show that you can be successful in Romania,” he told Le Monde.

Romanians lack confidence in national economy, but are confident about their investment portfolios