Romanians buy less and first cut out purchases that are not strictly necessary. Caution has become the new normal

If you have the feeling that you think more before putting a product in the basket, the statistics prove you right.

The data published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics show that, in April 2026, Romanians bought 5.4% less than in April 2025 – measured in real volume, not in lei. I mean, it's not that prices went up and we spent the same: we bought less stuff.

And the trend is not new. In the first four months of the year, the cumulative decline compared to the same period in 2025 reached 5.8%.

Romanians buy less than a year ago. What the official figures say about how shopping behavior has changed. In April 2026, retail sales fell by more than 5% compared to the same month last year. It's no surprise – but the extent of the contraction confirms that something has changed in the way Romanians manage their money.

The volume of business in the retail trade in the first 4 months of 2026 registered a decrease, as a whole, by 5.8%, as a result of the decreases recorded in the sales of non-food products (-8.7%), the sales of food products, beverages and tobacco (-3.8%) and in the retail trade of fuels (-2.0%), Statistica notes in the Thursday release.

What has become cheaper in the basket of Romanians

The biggest declines were in non-food products – clothes, appliances, furniture, electronics – where sales volume fell by almost 9% compared to the first four months of 2025. Food and beverages fell by 3.8% and fuels by 2%.

In other words, Romanians first cut out purchases that are not strictly necessary. Food is still bought, but here too with more attention to price.

Why is this happening?

The short answer: inflation. The annual rate of consumer prices rose in April to 10.71%, up from 9.87% in March. When prices rise more than 10% a year, the same salary buys less every month.

The National Bank has kept the reference interest rate at 6.50% – which means that loans also remain expensive, reducing the appetite for large purchases financed by borrowing.

How shopping behavior has changed

Beyond the numbers, a study recently published by the company Shopfully – which analyzes the behavior of European consumers – provides a clearer picture of what is happening at the level of each household.

Seven out of ten Romanians say they do not expect their purchasing power to improve in 2026. And they have adapted accordingly:

• 60% split their shopping between several stores to find the best prices – almost double that of other countries in the region.

• 55% mainly buy products on sale.

• 48% have abandoned purchases they consider non-essential.

Promotion has become a criterion, not a bonus

Perhaps the most relevant detail from the study: 39% of Romanians say that promotions “extremely” influence their purchase decision – compared to a European average of 25%. If we also include those who say they are influenced “quite a lot”, almost 7 out of 10 Romanians take special offers into account when deciding where and what to buy.

Caution has become the new normal.

The phone decides, the store executes

The preference for physical shopping remains strong: 67% of Romanians say they prefer to shop in stores, above the European average of 62%. For food, 93% still choose the supermarket or hypermarket.

But the decision is made more and more often before entering the store. 69% of Romanians look for products online before buying them. They check prices, compare offers, read digital catalogs – and only then are they on their way.

What's next

If the trend of the first four months is maintained, 2026 will be the first year in the last few years in which private consumption will be a brake, not an engine, of the Romanian economy.

At the moment, neither inflation shows clear signs of moderation, nor interest rates are heading down. And the Romanian consumer, as the figures show, understood the message and adjusted his behavior.

Sources: National Institute of Statistics, press release no. 135/4 June 2026; Shopfully, “The State of Shopping 2026”