Romania’s trade deficit in its main processed food categories reached 2.4 billion euro in 2025, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) cited by Ziarul Financiar. Imports in those categories came to 4.2 billion euro, more than twice the value of exports. The country’s trade in raw agricultural goods, by contrast, ran a surplus of about 212 million euro over the same year.
Cereals and oilseeds alone generate a combined surplus of 4.2 billion euro. Excluding them, the agricultural area would run a deficit of about 4 billion euro, the newspaper reported.
A net exporter of raw materials
The pattern fits a country that sells unprocessed output and buys back value-added products. Romania is champion only in exports of cereals and oilseeds, according to the report.
Imports of finished food products outpace what domestic plants send abroad.
Agribusiness debate ahead
The question is set to reach a wider audience at the ZF Agrobusiness 2026 conference on 26 October. The event will bring together authorities, bankers, agribusiness managers, farmers and cooperatives.
Related: Romania's trade deficit widens to 22.4 billion euro in eight months · China's September trade surplus nears $134 billion on exports
Source: National Institute of Statistics (INS)
