For 46% of Romanians, what they are buying nowadays is the bare necessities to ensure their survival, shows a study conducted by Reveal Marketing Research, a full-service market research company, specialized in market research, sociological studies, customer insight, business strategy, market development, released on Thursday.
According to the study, high inflation has led Romanians to prioritize spending to cover basic needs. Thus, 46% of them agree, to a large and very large extent, that their current purchases are strictly necessary for daily living.
In the last month, Romanians spent the most on food (89%), utilities (82%), personal hygiene products (73%), household care products (67%) and medicines or supplements (66%).
On the other hand, 16% of Romanians have allocated reduced amounts for books, travel and vacations (13%) or hobby products (7%).
Compared with 2022, recent data shows a significant increase in spending in the last month for basic categories such as food (+17%), utilities (+16%), personal hygiene products (+11%), cleaning products (+8%) and medicines and supplements (+12%). These developments indicate a strong shift in consumption towards daily needs. In contrast, Romanians spent less than in 2022 on cosmetics and perfumes (-3%), hobby items (-3%) and accessories such as watches and jewelry (-2%), reflecting a trend of prioritizing essential expenses in the current economic context.
According to the results of the Reveal Marketing Research survey, half of Romanians (50%) have predominantly positive feelings during this period. Of these, 27% say they feel optimistic and energized and 23% say they feel relaxed and calmly look at what is going on around them, both attitudes being more common among seniors (+60 years), in proportion of 35% and 32% respectively.
On the other hand, 32% of Romanians admit that they get easily annoyed and often experience feelings of anger, a phenomenon particularly pronounced among Generation Y (29-44 years old) – 38%, and 18% feel rather bored or tired in everyday life.
Romanians’ perception of those around them is predominantly negative, with the majority describing them as tense and angry (58%) or tired and bored (29%). The discrepancy between their own assessment of their own state (50% negative feelings) and the general perception of others (87% negative feelings) can be explained by the tendency to see their own state more favorably than that of others.
Most Romanians say they are satisfied with their relationships with family and friends (92%) and with the level of personal development achieved (79%).
Compared to 2022, Romanians say they are slightly more satisfied with their relationships with family and friends (+3%). However, satisfaction with their career and work environment has dropped significantly, by 7%, and their perception of their financial situation has deteriorated by 4%. These trends reflect the current challenges facing society and underline the importance of measures to improve work-life balance.
The greatest sources of satisfaction in Romanians’ everyday lives come from interpersonal relationships: 92% say they are satisfied with their relationships with family and friends, 79% with their level of personal development and 76% with their romantic relationships. However, people with incomes below 3,000 RON report a lower level of satisfaction in their married life (63%).
At the opposite end, the lowest satisfaction scores are registered in the professional sphere (workplace – 65%), in the economic sphere (personal financial situation – 59%) and in the socio-political sphere (Romania’s economic situation – 25% and Romania’s political situation – 24%).
As far as national pride is concerned, about half of Romanians (51%) feel proud to a large or very large extent that they are Romanians, but this percentage is significantly lower among young people: only 35% of those belonging to Gen Z (18-28 years) and 42% of those belonging to Gen Y (29-44 years) share this feeling.
In a difficult economic and emotional context, Romanians believe that brands should focus more on motivational and optimistic messages (59%), on promoting health, safety and security (50%) and on supporting local products and entrepreneurs (42%).
Romanians expect firms and companies to protect employees and avoid layoffs (57%), support communities through donations (44%) and use resources to produce essential goods (40%).
The survey was conducted online between March 5-12, 2025 on a national representative sample for people aged 18+, internet users, urban and peri-urban. The sample size was 1,003 respondents, and the maximum sampling error is +/-3.1% at 95% confidence level.
AGERPRES
