Agriculture
Agriculture employs about 29% of the population (one of the highest rates in Europe), and contributes about 8.1% of GDP. The
Bărăgan is characterized by large
wheat farms. Dairy products, pork, poultry, and apple production are concentrated in the western region. Beef production is located in central Romania, while the production of fruits, vegetables, and wine ranges from central to southern Romania. Romania is a large producer of many agricultural products and is currently expanding its forestry and fishery industries. The implementation of the reforms and the
Uruguay Round of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) have resulted in reforms in the agricultural sector of the economy.
Industry
Romania has been successful in developing its industrial sector in recent years. Industry and construction accounted for 32% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, a comparatively large share even without taking into account related services. The sector employed 26.4% of the workforce. Romania excels in the production of
automobiles,
machine tools, and chemicals. Motor vehicle production tripled in the 2000s, but still lags behind neighbouring countries such as
Hungary or
Ukraine. In 2004 Romania enjoyed one of the largest world market share in machine tools (5.3%) Romanian-based companies such as
Dacia,
Petrom,
Rompetrol,
Bitdefender,
Romstal and
Mobexpert have expanded operations throughout the region. However, small- to medium-sized manufacturing firms form the bulk of Romania's industrial sector.
Romania's industrial output is expected to advance 9% in 2007, while agriculture output is projected to grow 12%. Final consumption is also expected to increase by 11% overall - individual consumption by 14.4% and collective consumption by 10.4%. Domestic demand is expected to go up 12.7%.
Industrial output growth was 6.9% year-on-year in December 2009, making it the highest in the EU-27 zone which averaged -1.9%.
Fishing
Fishing is an economic mainstay in parts of the East of Romania and along the Black Sea coast, with important fish markets in places such as
Constanta and
Galati. Fish such as
herring,
crab,
lobster,
haddock and
cod are landed at ports such as
Constanta. There has been a large scale decrease in employment in the fishing industry within Romania due to the EU's
Common Fisheries Policy, which places restrictions on the total tonnage of catch that can be landed, caused by overfishing in the
Black Sea. In tandem with the decline of sea-fishing, commercial fish farms - especially in
salmon, have increased in prominence in the rivers and
lochs of the east of Romania. Inland waters are rich in fresh water fish such as salmon and
trout.
Services
In 2003
service sector constituted 55% of gross domestic product (GDP), and the sector employed 51.3% of the workforce. The subcomponents of services are financial, renting, and business activities (20.5%); trade, hotels and restaurants, and transport (18%); and other service activities (21.7%). The service sector in Romania has expanded in recent years, employing some 47% of Romanians and accounting for slightly more than half of GDP. The largest employer is the
retail sector, employing almost 12% of Romanians. The retail industry is mainly concentrated in a relatively small number of chain stores clustered together in
shopping malls. In recent years the rise of
big-box stores, such as
Cora (hypermarket) (of the France) and
Carrefour (a subsidiary of the French), have led to fewer workers in this sector and a migration of retail jobs to the suburbs.
