Romanian retail investors are distrustful of the local economy but appear increasingly confident in their own living standards, jobs and income, according to the latest quarterly eToro Retail Investor Beat survey.
The level of distrust in the Romanian economy remained high in the fourth quarter of 2025, 70% of Romanian retail investors saying they are not confident about its prospects, the same percentage as in Q3 this year, eToro analyst for Romania, Bogdan Maioreanu writes.
This is not surprising, given that the country continues to struggle with slow growth, high budget deficits, and high inflation. The uncertainty brought by the recent deficit-cutting reforms and increase in taxes may explain the higher level of distrust in the evolution of the economy.
Romania continues to have the highest inflation in the EU, and the investors are bracing for another salvo of tax increases in 2026. If we compare this quarter’s survey results with the previous one, we can see an increase in the number of investors who said that they are not particularly confident, from 43% to 47% but a decrease in the percentage of those who are not at all confident in the local economy, from 27% to 23%.
In a positive sign, however, we have seen an increase in confidence in the income and the cost of living. This quarter, 70% of Romanian retail investors are confident about their living standards this quarter compared with 63% a quarter ago. Among the age groups, the most confidence is again in the youngest generation, Gen Z, with 76%, followed by Gen X (73%), Millennials (69%), and Boomers with 45%.
The latest poll, which covers the fourth quarter, shows an increase in the level of confidence about job security, which rose to 74% from the previous percentage of 69% of respondents. However, it did not climb back to 77% from the second quarter. Gen Z (18-27 years old) are the most confident (81%), followed by Boomers (60-78) with 76% and Millennials (28-43) with 73%, while Gen X (44-59) shows the lowest confidence in their job security (71%).
Inflation remains the main concern of Romanian retail investors, 26% of them considering it the main risk for their investment portfolios. It is followed by a possible recession of the global economy (25%), the state of the Romanian economy (18%), and an international conflict (13%).
This quarter’s results show that the stock markets are not the same as the economies. Financial markets are forward‑looking, are about pricing expectations and future profits, while the real economy measures current and past production, jobs and incomes. While the distrust in the Romanian economy continues to be high, the confidence in the investment portfolios of the Romanian retail investors jumped to 82% from 72% a quarter ago.
It should not be a surprise as the Bucharest Stock Exchange BET Index is up over 43% this year, while the European STOXX 600 is up over 14% and the US S&P 500 gained over 16% from the beginning of this year.
Half (50%) of Romanian retail investors have local stocks in their portfolios, 42% have foreign equities, 52% have a form of crypto assets, while three quarters have cash, including savings accounts. When asked about in which sectors they intend to increase their investments, Romanians answered technology (20%), financial services (18%), energy (15%) and Real Estate (10%). After the earnings reports for Q3, these are some of the sectors with the highest increases in profits, in Europe, including Romania, but also across the Atlantic. And investors noticed this.
With plenty of uncertainty ahead, persistently high inflation, tax hikes, and a stagnating GDP, the Romanian retail investors, in their large majority, are negative about the prospects of the local economy. However, their growing optimism about personal finances and investment returns shows a clear separation between perceptions of the economy and their sentiment toward financial markets, especially after a strong year so far.
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