The economic growth Romania has recorded since joining the European Union ten years ago has been unevenly distributed and the country’s richest have been its main beneficiaries.

The 1% richest Romanians got 8.3% of the country’s national income in 2015, up from 6% in 2007. Meanwhile, the 10% poorest Romanians only got 1.5% of the national income in 2015, down from 1.9% in 2007, according to a new infographic released by Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania (FesRomania).

The infographic also shows that the evolution of Romania’s 10% poorest has been different compared to the neighboring country Bulgaria, which also joined the EU in 2007.

In 2007, the average annual gain of the 10% poorest citizens in the two countries was similar, namely EUR 556 per year in Romania and EUR 548 per year in Bulgaria. In 2015, the amounts were very different, namely EUR 1,339 in Bulgaria and EUR 714 per year in Romania.

The average income of the poorest Romanians reached EUR 60 per month in 2015, 10 times less than the EU average.

editor@romania-insider.com