EXCLUSIVE: August 2025 marks the first month of net business contraction since records began

In a stunning reversal of economic fortunes, Romania’s business ecosystem has registered its first negative growth in recent memory,, indicating that for every 100 businesses registering, 102 are exiting the market.

The Bleeding Numbers

The August 2025 data paints a grim picture: 11,435 were completely overwhelmed by 11,709,.

The collapse represents a catastrophic 24.6,,. Deregistrations have also climbed by 33.3% year-over-year.

Geographic Hotspots of Business Collapse

The capital city of Bucharest leads the business failure wave with 877 and 983, indicating that even the country’s economic engine is sputtering.

Coastal Constanța and tech hub Cluj follow closely, with 263 and 252 dissolutions respectively, suggesting the crisis is spreading beyond traditional economic centers.

Industry-Specific Carnage

While some sectors show growth, the overall picture reveals deep structural problems. The transport and storage sector leads registrations with 15,677, but this 56.3% year-over-year surge may represent desperate entrepreneurs fleeing failing industries rather than sustainable growth.

More alarming are the complete collapses in several critical sectors. Education, real estate transactions,, indicating systemic failures in these essential services.

The Perfect Storm

The data reveals a perfect storm of economic pressures: rising business costs, regulatory uncertainty, indicates the business ecosystem is barely maintaining equilibrium, with any further deterioration likely to trigger a cascade of failures.

What This Means for Romania’s Economy

Economists warn that when business churn rates exceed 100%, it signals fundamental economic stress. The current 102.4% rate suggests Romania’s business environment is no longer sustainable, with more companies failing than succeeding.

The concentration of failures in Bucharest—typically the country’s most resilient economic center—suggests the crisis is not isolated to rural or underdeveloped regions but has penetrated the core of Romania’s economic infrastructure.

Bottom Line: Romania’s business ecosystem is showing the first signs of systemic failure. With more businesses closing than opening for the first time in years, and key sectors like education and healthcare showing complete registration collapse, the country faces an unprecedented economic challenge that could have ripple effects throughout Eastern Europe.