Construction exceeded agriculture in terms of contribution to GDP

Services continue to be the major element contributing to GDP, at 55.8 percent, while industry represents 28.3 percent, according to data by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The considerable advance of construction counterbalanced the weak performance of agriculture, which came in at 18.3 percent, leading to a 5.8 percent advance of the economy reported in the first three quarters. Similarly, services increased by 7 percent, industry by 5.6 percent, and net taxes on products rose to 1.1 percent.

As relates to economic development, Romania is still very far behind most European countries. GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) was one third of the EU 25 average in 2005, and only 50 percent of the average of new European Union states. It is expected that GDP per capita in 2009 in terms of PPS compared to EU 27 will be some 40 percent.