Market Research Companies in Romania

Key figures for researchers

Population

19.0 million (2025)¹

Census population and regions

19,053,815 people in 41 counties plus Bucharest (census of 1 December 2021)²

Urban population

52.2% of residents (2021 census, provisional results)⁴

Aged 65 and over

20.1% of the population (2025)⁵

Hungarian minority

1,002,151 people, 5.26% of the population (2021 census)²

Roma population

569,477 people, 3.00% of the population (2021 census)²

Working-age Romanians in other EU countries

19.7% of Romanians aged 20–64 (2017)⁶

Internet users

91.3% of individuals (2024)⁷

Mobile subscriptions

120 per 100 people (2024)⁸

GDP per capita

about US$22,500 (2025)⁹

Research guide

Research landscape

Romania has an established research industry serving local clients and international studies covering South-East and Central Europe. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, B2B, healthcare and social research firms, CATI centres, field networks and online panel providers.

Bucharest, the capital (1,716,961 people at the 2021 census), is the main business centre. Regional cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța and Brașov are common locations for city samples and focus groups. Ask your agency which professional code it follows, such as the ICC/ESOMAR International Code.

Languages and fieldwork

Romanian is the fieldwork language for almost all studies: questionnaires should be translated by native speakers and tested before fieldwork. The 2021 census counted 1,002,151 Hungarians (5.26% of the population), and 6.3% of people who declared a mother tongue gave Hungarian. They are concentrated in Transylvania: Hungarians make up 79.5% of the population in Harghita county, 66.7% in Covasna and 31.8% in Mureș. Studies in these counties usually need a Hungarian version of the questionnaire and Hungarian-speaking interviewers.

The census also counted 569,477 Roma (3.00% of the population), 67.8% of them living in rural areas: reaching this group usually needs face-to-face fieldwork and experienced local interviewers. Note that 13.04% of census respondents gave no ethnic information, so ethnic quotas should be set with care. A national sample covers 41 counties plus Bucharest; only 52.2% of residents live in urban areas, so quotas or weighting by region and by urban/rural residence are essential.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: 91.3% of individuals used the internet in 2024, and there are 120 mobile subscriptions per 100 people. Online surveys using access panels are widely used for urban consumer targets, and mobile-friendly questionnaires are essential.

With a large rural population and 20.1% of people aged 65 and over, online samples can under-represent rural and older people. Telephone (CATI) and face-to-face interviews (CAPI/PAPI) remain used for national representative samples, rural areas, hard-to-reach groups, B2B decision makers and public sector studies. Focus groups are usually held in dedicated facilities in Bucharest and the major regional cities.

Timing

Romania’s legal public holidays include 1 and 2 January, 6 and 7 January, 24 January, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, 1 May, 1 June, Pentecost (Rusalii) Sunday and Monday, Assumption Day (15 August), 30 November, 1 December (National Day) and 25 and 26 December. Easter follows the Orthodox calendar and often falls on a different date from Western Easter. Avoid the Christmas and New Year period, Orthodox Easter week and the long weekend around 30 November and 1 December.

In the 2026/2027 school year, the winter break runs from 23 December 2026 to 10 January 2027 and the spring (Easter) break from 24 April to 4 May 2027; each county also sets one flexible holiday week between 15 February and 7 March 2027. Summer holidays run from 19 June to 5 September 2027: families and business respondents are harder to reach, so allow more fieldwork time.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the GDPR and Romanian Law 190/2018 on measures implementing the GDPR (in force since 31 July 2018). The supervisory authority is the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (ANSPDCP), an independent public body.

Law 190/2018 allows limits on some data subject rights (access, rectification, restriction and objection) for scientific research and statistical purposes, but only with appropriate safeguards. It also sets conditions for processing the personal numeric code (CNP): when it is based on legitimate interest, the controller must apply safeguards such as data minimisation, a data protection officer and set retention periods. Avoid collecting the CNP in surveys unless it is truly needed. Ask your agency how respondents are informed, where the data is hosted and how recordings or video will be shared with you.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, counties and city sizes, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask whether a Hungarian version of the questionnaire and Hungarian-speaking interviewers are needed for counties in your sample.
• Ask which panels or fieldwork suppliers will be used, and how quotas by region, urban/rural area, age and gender are set and weighted.
• Check fieldwork dates against public holidays, Orthodox Easter and the school holidays.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.