More than 5 million Romanians live in other European countries

According to documents from the Romanian Ministry of Labor presented by G4Media, the number of Romanians living in the main European destination countries may range between 4.37 million and 5.11 million, depending on the methodology used in the records. The difference arises because some data count only those actually registered as residents, while others include people with residency rights or those appearing in broader official registers. The total figure therefore cannot be regarded as population statistics compiled with a single, uniform method, but it still gives a sense of the scale of emigration.

According to data from Romania's National Institute of Statistics (INS), more than 54,900 people permanently moved abroad in 2025. This is a narrower category than those who leave temporarily, for instance for work, so it does not show the full number of people moving abroad. Still, the number of permanent emigrants is one of the highest figures of recent decades; in the dataset presented, only 1990 saw more departures, when 96,929 people settled in another country. Working abroad remains an attractive option for young people. In the youth survey conducted by INSCOP at the end of 2025, 66.2 percent of respondents saw it as a way to improve their standard of living, and 64.7 percent said they would move primarily for a better-paying job. However, this does not translate into an equally strong, direct intention to emigrate: 70.6 percent said they did not plan to leave the country for work or study in the next twelve months, and 76.9 percent said that if they did move abroad, they would miss their family most of all.

In the United Kingdom, by the end of June 2026, Romanian citizens had submitted 1.47 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme, which regulates the post-Brexit residence status of EU citizens. However, this figure is not the same as the number of Romanians living there, since the same person may apply for status more than once, for example when converting temporary status into permanent status. The UK Home Office's statistical guidance treats this separately as well. According to the Romanian ministry's document, 1.02 million Romanians hold UK residency status, of whom 684,380 have permanent settled status, while a further roughly 100,000 have acquired British citizenship. The number of Romanian residents registered in England and Wales rose, according to the figures cited, from 310,000 in 2016 to 805,000 in 2025. Movement is nonetheless two-way: between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, around 39,000 Romanians returned home from the United Kingdom, according to the ministry's documents.

In Italy, more than 1.05 million Romanian citizens were registered as residents in 2025, of whom nearly 593,000 were women. According to 2024 data, employment-related taxes and contributions were paid for almost 599,000 Romanian workers, and more than 53,000 ran their own businesses. Many work in construction, domestic and care services, hospitality, trade and agriculture. The community's lasting integration is also reflected in the fact that more than 42,000 Romanians are already retired in Italy, while in the 2023–2024 school year nearly 148,000 Romanian students were studying in the country's schools.

In Germany, at the end of 2025, 903,770 Romanian citizens were listed in the central register of foreigners, accounting for 6.4 percent of the country's foreign population. Men made up the majority of the community, numbering 510,600, compared with 393,170 women. According to the figures presented by the ministry, the employment rate among Romanians reached 72.7 percent, exceeding the 71 percent rate among German citizens. The document describes the Romanian community as predominantly young and active in the labor market.

In the case of Spain, the discrepancy between different registers is particularly large. At the beginning of 2025, Spain's statistical institute counted 609,270 Romanian residents, while the immigration observatory put the number of Romanians holding valid residence permits at more than 1.13 million. The two figures measure different groups and therefore cannot be used interchangeably to determine the size of the community. At the end of April 2026, 346,290 Romanians were paying contributions into the social security system, and nearly 55,000 were working as self-employed.

In France, the Romanian diplomatic mission estimates the Romanian community at 450,000–500,000 people. This is an estimate, compiled using a different method than the German or Italian population registers. According to the article, more than 15,800 workers who had come from Romania were registered in France in 2024, mainly in construction and agriculture. Beyond them, more than 25,000 Romanians work seasonally in the country, mostly in agricultural jobs.

Among the smaller European communities, Austria registered 155,721 Romanian residents at the beginning of 2025, and the Netherlands 63,848. In the Netherlands, the annual number of mobile, temporary and seasonal workers is separately estimated at 80,000–120,000, while in the 2024–2025 academic year nearly eight thousand Romanian students were studying in higher education. According to the figures presented, around 45,000 Romanians live in Cyprus, 28,250 in Greece, 25,000–30,000 in Sweden, 17,000–20,000 in Denmark, and 1,000–1,500 in Estonia.

Immigration is easing Romania's population decline

Meanwhile, immigration is playing an increasingly important role in the development of Romania's domestic population. According to the INS, the country's permanently resident population stood at 19.041 million on January 1, 2026, showing a declining trend, with the main cause of the decline being natural population decrease: more people died than were born. The balance of international migration, however, was positive: in 2025, 102,200 more people arrived in the country than left it. This surplus did not fully offset the natural decrease, but without it the population would have fallen below 19 million. A positive migration balance does not necessarily mean only the arrival of foreign citizens, since returning Romanians can also be counted in it. At the same time, the aging of the population continues. The share of people aged 65 and over rose from 20.3 percent at the start of 2025 to 20.5 percent at the start of 2026, while the share of children fell from 15.4 percent to 15.1 percent. Romania is thus facing persistent emigration, natural population decline and aging all at once; for now, immigration is easing the demographic consequences of these trends.

Ugar