Romania’s July business numbers look less like a broad-based economy and more like a narrowing bet on two industries. The country added just 11,049 new registrations, a collapse of 27.16% from a year earlier. Inside that shrinking total, transport and retail together accounted for 3,897 firms—or 35.3% of everything created in the month.

The concentration is not an accident of strong growth. Transport recorded 2,307 registrations and retail added 1,590. Retail’s 1,590 registrations still left it in second place, behind transport and ahead of professional services at 1,207. Last July, the same two sectors were 29.5% of a much larger registration base. The economy is not broadening; it is thinning out and leaning harder on fewer sectors.

One Engine, Not Two

The alarming part of the concentration story is that these two headline sectors are not both booming.

Transport grew 4.39% year-over-year. Retail, by contrast, collapsed 29.99%. Retail is still the second-largest sector only because almost everything else is falling faster.

That is the real finding: the top sector mix is dangerously thin, but it is not a story of two growth engines. It is one growing logistics sector plus a cratering legacy sector still large enough to mask the damage underneath.

The Broader Base Is Disappearing

Strip out transport and the picture deteriorates sharply. Excluding the 2,307 transport registrations, the rest of the economy produced 8,742 new firms, down roughly a third from the 12,958 non-transport registrations recorded a year earlier.

The declines are not limited to one or two laggards. Construction fell 34.0% to 1,021 registrations. Professional and technical services fell 19.64% to 1,207 registrations. Administrative and support services dropped 45.2% to 617 registrations.

Even worse, the sectors that usually signal durable economic expansion are being hollowed out. Manufacturing collapsed 55.98% to just 379 registrations. Hotels and restaurants plunged 58.15% to 393 registrations. Health and social care fell 57.31% to 143 registrations.

The only meaningful gains outside transport are small: financial intermediation rose 28.57% to 252 registrations, agriculture rose 16.11% to 173 registrations, and IT edged up 2.53% to 971 registrations. Together they are far too small to replace the lost construction, manufacturing and services activity.

The Registration Base Cannot Outrun Business Exits

The sectoral weakness is happening inside an already negative business-formation environment. July recorded 12,079 business exits against 11,049 registrations, leaving net growth at -1,030.

This is now an eight-month streak of net business destruction that began in December 2025 and has produced a cumulative net loss of 16,115 firms. The churn rate reached 109.32, meaning more firms exited than entered.

Even the type of new business being created suggests fragility. SRL registrations fell 44.95% year-over-year, while PFA registrations rose 19.97%. The growth is increasingly coming from sole traders, not from capitalised limited-liability companies.

The Geographic Picture Is Just as Thin

The sectoral concentration is mirrored geographically. Bucharest still dominates with 2,786 registrations, followed by Ilfov with 754, Timiş with 602 and Cluj with 577. The capital region alone—Bucharest plus Ilfov—accounts for about 32% of all new firms.

But the county growth rankings expose how weak the recovery is. The best-performing county, Satu Mare, still shrank 2.74% year-over-year. Călăraşi fell 9.09%, Giurgiu 16.03%, and Ialomiţa 26.6%. Even the counties listed as top growers are shrinking.

Not a Seasonal Excuse

July is not a seasonally weak month. Its long-run average is 11,926 registrations, ranking seventh out of twelve calendar months. This July’s 11,049 came in below that norm, so the weakness cannot be waved away as a summer lull.

The Verdict

The question is whether July’s top-sector registrations are dangerously concentrated in transport and retail. The data says yes—but with a crucial twist. Retail is not supporting the economy; it is the second-largest sector only because it is falling more slowly than construction, manufacturing, professional services and hospitality. Transport is the only large sector growing at any real pace, and it is being asked to carry a base that is collapsing underneath it.

That is not a broad-based recovery. It is a narrowing economy with one visible engine, a shrinking registration base, and eight straight months of net business destruction.