Analysis of regional business dynamics shows capital region accounting for nearly 30% of new registrations while provinces show stronger growth momentum

BUCHAREST - Romania’s business registration landscape in August 2025 continues to reflect a familiar pattern of capital concentration, with Bucharest-Ilfov maintaining its dominant position while provincial regions show remarkable growth momentum, according to official registration data.

Capital Region Maintains Commanding Lead

The Bucharest-Ilfov region recorded a combined 3,288 business registrations in August 2025, representing 28.8% of the national total of 11,435. Bucharest alone accounted for 2,561,.

This concentration in the capital region underscores the continued economic centralization that has characterized Romania’s business landscape for years. The capital’s dominance is particularly notable given that Bucharest represents only about 9% of Romania’s population but accounts for over 22% of business registrations.

Provincial Growth Outpaces Capital

Despite the capital’s volume advantage,

• Timiș: 193.7
• Sibiu: 206.3

Even the capital region showed strong growth,.

Regional Business Structure Variations

The data reveals interesting differences in business entity preferences across regions. In Ilfov,. This suggests a preference for more formal business structures in the capital’s immediate periphery.

Nationally, SRLs continued to be the preferred business form with 7,613 registrations, followed by PFAs at 3,415.

Industry Concentration Patterns

The industry breakdown shows some sectoral specialization emerging across regions. While comprehensive county-level industry data isn’t available, national trends indicate strong performance in:

• Wholesale and retail trade: 16,105 registrations
• Transport and storage: 15,677 registrations (up 56.3% year-over-year)
• Professional, scientific and technical activities: 9,411 registrations
• Construction: 9,161 suggests infrastructure development and logistics expansion across multiple regions, not just the capital.

Business Ecosystem Health

The broader business environment shows signs of stabilization. While August saw 11,709 business exits (suspensions, dissolutions, and deregistrations) compared to 11,435, the net decline of 274 businesses represents an improvement from previous trends. The health ratio of 0.98 indicates near-balance between business creation and closure.

Economic Centralization vs. Regional Development

The data paints a complex picture of Romania’s economic geography. While Bucharest-Ilfov maintains its commanding position in absolute numbers, the explosive growth in provinces suggests a potential rebalancing may be underway.

The triple-digit growth rates in counties like Dolj, Timiș, and Sibiu indicate that regional development policies and infrastructure investments may be bearing fruit. However, the capital’s continued dominance in volume terms suggests that economic centralization remains a structural feature of Romania’s business landscape.

As Romania continues its economic development, the challenge remains balancing the natural advantages of the capital region with the need for more geographically distributed growth. The August 2025 data suggests both trends are occurring simultaneously - continued capital concentration alongside emerging provincial dynamism.