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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the share of large projects\u2014those creating more than 500 jobs\u2014fell to 30% (down from 48% in 2021), the lowest level since 2017, confirming investors\u2019 shift toward more automated and productivity-efficient projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bogdan Ion, Country Managing Partner at EY Romania and Moldova: \u201eIn 2025, foreign direct investment reflects a clear paradigm shift at the European level, in which investment decisions are becoming more selective, and criteria related to competitiveness and predictability carry greater weight than in previous years. In this context, Romania\u2019s performance\u2014with a 161% increase in the number of projects and a 391% increase in jobs created, in a year when most European markets saw declines\u2014indicates a strengthening of its position in the region. The high share of expansion projects and the rebound in FDI inflows to 8.1 billion euros suggest that existing investors are reaffirming their long-term commitments. Maintaining this trend will depend on the ability to ensure predictability, political stability, and consistency in public policies, in a context where indicators from the first half of 2026 show an increase in Romania\u2019s attractiveness, based on M&A data, while the prospect of OECD accession could further boost the potential for attracting FDI.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regional differences are widening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s competitiveness in attracting large-scale investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s strategic shift toward security and industrial resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Against this backdrop, investor confidence remains positive but is tempering, affected by risks such as geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic conditions, trade barriers, and regulatory complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romania: evolution above the European trend and strengthening of its investment profile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dynamic suggests market maturation: expansion decisions reflect investors' direct experience in the local environment and confirm the relative stability of operational conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the regional level, Romania is consolidating its position in Central and Eastern Europe, ranking between Poland\u2014which leads in terms of scale, with 285 projects in 2025 (+10%)\u2014and Hungary, which attracts a smaller number of projects (73, -9%), but of larger scale and with a significant impact on employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romania is distinguished by more balanced growth, distributed across multiple sectors, which reduces dependence on the cycles of a single domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s growing role both as a production base and as a platform for regional operations and integration into European supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Investi\u021biile str\u0103ine directe (ISD) \u00een Europa au sc\u0103zut \u00een 2025, marc\u00e2nd o etap\u0103 de \u00eencetinire \u0219i transformare structural\u0103 a peisajului investi\u021bional. Num\u0103rul proiectelor anun\u021bate a fost mai mic cu 7% fa\u021b\u0103 de 2024 \u0219i r\u0103m\u00e2ne semnificativ sub nivelurile din perioada de v\u00e2rf, pe fondul unei combina\u021bii de factori: cre\u0219tere economic\u0103 moderat\u0103, costuri ridicate ale energiei,<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-financiar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t