Romania, last in Europe by active SMEs number

Romania ranks 17th in the European Union (EU) in terms of total value added of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the last place by the number of active SMEs, a survey of Post-Privatization Foundation data show.

According to the study, in Romania there are 426,295 active SMEs in the non-financial economy, the lowest density of SMEs in the EU28, with 2.71 million employees. Thu, Romania is 8th place in EU as a share of total employees in SMEs. Also, the added value carried out by SMEs reaches EUR 25.8 billion.

In Romania there is an average of 21.3 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants, the EU average being of 42.7. The highest densities are recorded in the Czech Republic, with 95.9 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants, Portugal -73.5 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants, Malta – 73 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants and Slovakia – 70.2 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants.

The critical condition of Romanian SMEs was deepened by the accumulation of new gaps in the global crisis development, the study notes.

The Post-Privatization Foundation estimates a return of SMEs performance indicators to growth in 2014 and 2015, more rapidly than the European average. In this sense, the growth rate of value added is forecasted a 6.5 percent advance in 2014/2013 and 7.8 percent in 2015/2014, while the growth rate of the number of employees is estimated at 2, 9 percent in 2014/2013 and 2.8 percent in 2015/2014.

As area of activity, the SMEs in Romania are from trade, with a share of almost 40 percent of the total number of firms, while the EU average is 28 percent. Year 2014 indicates Romanian entrepreneurs reorientation towards IT and education at the expense of agriculture.

In Bucharest are registered the most companies – 11,648, followed by Cluj, with 4,074 and Bihor, with 3,468 registrations. The weakest areas in terms of entrepreneurial initiative are Covasna – 552 registrations and Ialomita – 674 registrations.