When many Westerners today think of Romania, they might imagine a backward, agrarian country on the fringes of Europe. There’s much, much more to the economy of Romania. Romania indeed used to be one of the less-developed regions of Eastern Europe, with much of its labor force employed in agriculture. That changed during the Communist takeover of Romania after World War II. In Communist Romania, an aggressive campaign of heavy industrialization, along with the forceful collectivization of agriculture, was favored and Romanian GDP rose tremendously due to these efforts. After the collapse of the Ceausescu regime, Romania embarked on a sometimes rocky path of economic liberalization and political democratization, a process whose real benefits can be seen today. The economy of Romania is characterized as one of the fastest-growing in Europe and in the world. Romania has the natural resources and labor to potentially make it one of the most prosperous countries in the European Union.

Leading Romanian industries include the automobile industry, machine tools, petrochemicals, aircraft, weapons, textiles, and biotechnology, among others. Agriculture still plays a prominent role in the Romanian economy, making Romania one of the most important agricultural producers and suppliers of the European Union. The Romanian IT industry (information technology) is also one of the most cutting-edge on the global hi-tech scene.

Transportation in Romania is also catching up to Western standards, although Romania is notorious for some of the worst roads in Europe. But with massive EU infrastructure-development assistance and other private and state initiatives, the road and highway network is improving and expanding. Romania also has one of the most extensive and safest railroad systems in Europe.

Romanian GDP growth has been consistently high over the last few years, although it did take a serious hit in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis. GDP growth has largely been due to an increasingly friendlier business environment, a recently-instituted flat corporate and personal income tax, and the presence of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.