What Is the Minimum and Average Salary in Romania in 2023?
For those looking for a cheap place to reside, Romania is very alluring. Although it is a member of the European Union, it boasts one of the lowest expenses of living in the continent, making it a fantastic option for those looking to relocate as well as digital nomads or people whose income comes from outside.
What about people who wish to relocate to Romania in order to work though? In this post, we'll discuss that topic by taking a look at the minimum pay and average salary in Romania on a monthly basis.
If you don’t want to go through the entire article and find all the fun facts and comments, I’m summing things up below. But you should keep reading for the big picture!
- the minimum wage in Romania, in 2023, is 3,000 lei gross (around 1,863 lei take home)
- the average wage in Romania in 2023 is around 4,000 lei net (take home)
This, in my opinion, provides a more accurate and complete image of the country as a whole: by knowing the minimum and average wage, you will be able to estimate where your income stands in relation to that of the typical Romanian and what to expect from the labour market.
Furthermore, I believe that the average income is a reliable predictor of a country's expected cost of living and level of wealth.
Prices in a nation where the average monthly income is 3,000 Euros are probably greater than they are in a nation where the average monthly income is 500 Euros.
Additionally, this implies that you can live comfortably in this nation if you at least make the average pay.
We've seen some significant changes on the income side as well, with the year 2022 being such a chaotic one with tremendous inflation and everything else that led prices to jump.
It's amazing to look at all the data and see how we stay, especially in terms of average pay over this insane year, even though the increase in overall earnings here is not as remarkable as it was previous to 2020 and the minimum monthly salary is still the same as it was in January.
What is the minimum wage in Romania in 2023?
The minimum salary in Romania in 2023 is 3,000 Lei gross or 1,863 Lei net. This means that somebody on minimum wages would bring home around 375 Euros each month.
This is a pretty large increase when compared to last year’s minimum salary, which was 2,550 lei. So almost a 20% increase, well above the huge inflation in Romania.
This means that, compared to last year, the minimum wage in Romania has increased by around 65 Euros. A pretty solid and definitely welcome increase.
IMPORTANT! Starting 2022, employers are allowed to keep employees on a minim wage for a maximum of 24 months. This means that a salary increase over the minimum is mandatory afterwards.
These are some pretty interesting measures and hopefully they will result in an increased quality of life in the near future.
Romania is still bleeding workers who move to Western European countries, searching for better paying jobs and minimum wages have been increased a lot over the past several years, even though the numbers might still seem pretty low.
For example, in January 2017 the gross minimum wage was just 1,250 RON, then it was increased to 1,450 RON before getting to 1,900 RON in 2018. Since then, the growth has been a bit slower, but any growth is better than none.
In conclusion, the take home minimum wage in Romania is around 375 Euros per month (or 1,863 lei) but companies are only allowed to pay the minimum wage for a maximum of 24 months before being forced by law to increase it.
In conclusion, the take home minimum wage in Romania is around 375 Euros per month (or 1,863 lei) but companies are only allowed to pay the minimum wage for a maximum of 24 months before being forced by law to increase it.
I would go as far as say that, with such a high inflation rate for 2022 (official numbers are at around 16%), the buying power has decreased a bit, despite the salary hike.
But despite all these, we do have an increased quality of life for those living on a minimum wage, at least when we compare numbers to 2017 and before.
What is the average wage in Romania in 2023?
An intriguing aspect of Romania's average wage in 2023 is that, despite the minimum wage's recent dramatic rises, average salaries did not follow the same pattern, albeit they did start to rise in the second half of the year.
Given that average earnings are not regulated, this makes reasonable. But they continued climbing. Due to the economic expansion in 2020 and 2021, and in 2022 to keep up with inflation.
However, unlike the minimum wage, the average salary a Romanian earns hasn’t grown as much throughout 2022.
Back to actual values, the average take-home salary in Romania in 2023 is around 4,000 Lei per month (around 811 Euros). This is an increase of around 700 Lei compared to last year. The Gross Salary is around 6,650 Lei (yup, that much goes to taxes!)
The figures are a little bit higher than the official figures used to determine the requirements for obtaining a digital nomad visa, which estimate the gross revenues at about 1,100 Euros per month (5,500 lei).
The National Institute of Statistics has updated monthly figures for the nation's average wage throughout the year.
The average wage in Romania climbed by almost 40 euros from the previous year, one of the highest rises in recent years. It's interesting to notice that since 2013, the average pay has increased by more than double.
And despite the fact that 2022 will bring such a financial nightmare, it is incredibly reassuring to see that average and minimum wages are still increasing.
When considering average earnings, it's also important to keep in mind that they tend to be higher in major cities (such as Bucharest, Brasov, Cluj, Constanta, Timisoara, etc.) and to be closer to the minimum in smaller ones.
In other words, the possibility for higher pay is present in bigger places, but so is the cost of living.
A family of three living in the provinces of a minor city spends less than 1,500 Euros a month, but larger cities may require more. Even if exchange rates are good, prices are rising, making life difficult everywhere at the moment.
Expense of Living
I once published a piece explaining how you could make $1,000 per month last in the country. After I initially published the piece, I had to revise it because a lot has changed since then.
Romania's cost of living is still quite inexpensive when compared to other nations, but you get less and less for that money as time goes on.
If you don't want to, then I'd have to conclude that a foreigner moving here would not be able to live a good life on the average take-home salary (811 Euros/month), if you have to pay for housing.
Top paying positions in Romania
It could not be easy to get work in Romania, especially if you don't understand the language.
Despite the fact that things are changing in this country, many industries have lagged behind due to the bureaucracy and obsolete employment structures.
It's been a while since I read an article about Noble Prize winners who couldn't teach in universities in Romania because they couldn't pass the ridiculous requirements for instructors (not that any Noble Prize winners intended to start teaching in Romania, of course).
However, there are some areas where it’s easier to find jobs in the country and fortunately these are also the best paying jobs in Romania. Think about large corporations and IT and you have a clear picture!
Also, there is an increasing demand for workers in the construction field, with decent salaries to follow (although still not the highest in the country).
With these in mind, let’s check out some of the best paid jobs in Romania. The salaries below are average amounts from 2020, so they might be a bit higher in 2022.
1. IT: 17,000 Lei
2. Oil extraction: 9,000 lei
3. Engineering: 7,300 Lei
4. Banking: 5,859 Lei
5. Heavy industry: 5,000 Lei
Other jobs that pay well include:
Truck Driver: 4,500 RON
Marketing: 4,500 RON
BPO: 4,150 RON
Engineering: 4,000 RON
Construction work: 5,000 RON
Have in mind that these are just averages and estimates and actual salaries that a company is willing to pay can be very different from the values above.
Wrapping up
The minimum and average salaries in Romania in 2023 can help you get a better idea of the real cost of living, your career possibilities, and how far your money will go if you're living off of income from another country.
Please feel free to add any comments or statistics from different industries that will aid in our collective understanding of the Romanian system.
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