Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe declined in 2025, marking a period of slowdown and structural transformation in the investment landscape. The number of announced projects was 71% lower than in 2024 and remains significantly below peak levels, driven by a combination of factors: moderate economic growth, high energy costs, geopolitical uncertainty, and more difficult access to financing.
FDI is increasingly shifting toward less labor-intensive activities, and the number of jobs created has nearly halved compared to the peak in 2021. This trend reflects both a decline in the number of projects (-15%) and a reduction in their average size, with the number of jobs per project falling from approximately 70 to 40.
At the same time, the share of large projects—those creating more than 500 jobs—fell to 30% (down from 48% in 2021), the lowest level since 2017, confirming investors’ shift toward more automated and productivity-efficient projects.
Bogdan Ion, Country Manging Partner EY România și Moldova: „În 2025, investițiile străine directe reflectă o schimbare clară de paradigmă la nivel european, în care deciziile de investiții devin mai selective, iar criteriile legate de competitivitate și predictibilitate cântăresc mai mult decât în anii anteriori. În acest context, evoluția României – cu o creștere de 16% a numărului de proiecte și de 39% a locurilor de muncă generate, într-un an în care majoritatea piețelor europene au înregistrat scăderi – indică o consolidare a poziției sale în regiune. Ponderea ridicată a proiectelor de extindere și revenirea intrărilor de ISD la 8,1 miliarde euro sugerează că investitorii existenți își reafirmă angajamentele pe termen lung. Menținerea acestui trend va depinde de capacitatea de a asigura predictibilitate, stabilitate politică și coerență în politicile publice, într-un context în care indicatorii din prima parte a anului 2026 arată o creștere a atractivității României, pe baza datelor M&A, în timp ce perspectiva aderării la OCDE ar putea crește și mai mult potențialul atragerii de ISD”.
Regional differences are widening
Western Europe remains the leader in terms of project volume, with France (852 projects, -171 Q3), the United Kingdom (730, -141 Q3), and Germany (548, -101 Q3) at the top, but it is seeing declines in both the number of investments and the jobs created, confirming a trend toward market maturity.
Southern Europe is showing mixed trends: Spain leads the region with 376 projects (+71 QoQ), while Italy (206, -81 QoQ) and Portugal (186, -51 QoQ) are seeing declines, and Greece stands out with rapid job growth (+3,74%), indicating a more intensive investment profile from an employment perspective.
Central and Eastern Europe is strengthening its position, particularly through industrial investments and a higher number of jobs per project. Poland leads with 285 projects (+10%), followed by Romania (109, +16%) and Hungary, which, although attracting fewer projects (73, -9%), generates a high number of jobs, highlighting the region’s competitiveness in attracting large-scale investments.
At the sectoral level, investments are dominated by services and technology. In 2025, the Software and IT Services sector led with 857 projects (up 8%), followed by Business and Professional Services, with 716 projects (+4%), while the financial sector stood out with the fastest growth, reaching 355 projects (+21%).
In contrast, most industrial sectors posted declines compared to previous years, including Transportation and Logistics (-14%), Electronics (-13%), Healthcare (-15%), Automotive (-8%), and Chemicals, Plastics, and Rubber (-11%), reflecting pressures related to demand, costs, and financing conditions.
Emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, low-carbon energy, and the defense industry are attracting increasing levels of investment. FDI projects in the field of artificial intelligence nearly doubled, from 156 in 2024 to 306 in 2025 (+96%), while jobs increased by 41%, reaching 14,693.
In the low-carbon energy sector, the number of projects rose from 71 to 89 (+25%), but the number of jobs created fell significantly, from 5,565 to 2,039 (-63%), reflecting the more automated nature of these investments.
Defense investment has risen sharply, with the number of projects reaching 107 (+84%) and the number of jobs created reaching 6,887 (+1,18%), amid Europe’s strategic shift toward security and industrial resilience.
Against this backdrop, investor confidence remains positive but is tempering, affected by risks such as geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic conditions, trade barriers, and regulatory complexity.
Romania: evolution above the European trend and strengthening of its investment profile
In this difficult European context, Romania stands out with an evolution above the regional average, both in terms of the number of ISD projects and the jobs generated.
In 2025, Romania ranked 11th in Europe and attracted 109 foreign direct investment projects, an increase of 16% compared to the previous year, in contrast to the decline observed at the European level. At the same time, the number of jobs created increased by 39%, reaching 5,710, indicating a resurgence of investments with a positive impact on the economy.
A defining feature of this trend is the shift in the structure of investments. Expansion projects have become dominant, outnumbering new projects. The number of expansion projects rose from 31 in 2024 to 60 in 2025, an increase of 94%, signaling a strengthening of confidence among investors already present in the market, who are choosing to expand their existing operations.
This dynamic suggests market maturation: expansion decisions reflect investors' direct experience in the local environment and confirm the relative stability of operational conditions.
At the regional level, Romania is consolidating its position in Central and Eastern Europe, ranking between Poland—which leads in terms of scale, with 285 projects in 2025 (+10%)—and Hungary, which attracts a smaller number of projects (73, -9%), but of larger scale and with a significant impact on employment.
Romania is distinguished by more balanced growth, distributed across multiple sectors, which reduces dependence on the cycles of a single domain.
The sectoral breakdown of investments confirms this mixed profile. Of the 109 FDI projects announced in 2025, the Machinery and Equipment sector remained the largest, with 17 projects (16% of the total), followed by Software and IT Services, with 14 projects (13%), Transport and Logistics, with 13 projects (12%), and the Transport Manufacturers and Suppliers and Agri-Food sectors, each with 12 projects (11%). Overall, this mix indicates Romania’s growing role both as a production base and as a platform for regional operations and integration into European supply chains.
The geographical distribution of investments also shows a clear differentiation between Bucharest and the rest of the country. Bucharest-Ilfov leads in the number of projects, with 45 projects, but generates a relatively low number of jobs (754, or approximately 17 jobs per project), reflecting the profile of investments in services and support activities. In contrast, the Western, Central, Northwestern, and Southwestern regions concentrate the largest share of jobs created – for example, Northwest (1,375 jobs from 14 projects), Center (1,108 from 13 projects), West (909 from 11 projects), and Southwest Oltenia (737 from only 4 projects), highlighting their role as main hubs for industrial investments.
Overall, the evolution in 2025 indicates a consolidation of Romania's role in the European investment landscape, against the backdrop of regional economic reorganization and an increased focus on operational efficiency and supply chain integration.
