MC / cost of living

PUBLIC INSTRUMENT / ROMANIA Data through July 2026

A working snapshot of everyday prices

What lifecosts now

In July 2026, Romania’s consumer prices were 8.2% above July 2025. Electricity was up 3.4%, fuel 24.2%, and food 4.6%. This page puts the same movement on a receipt you can adapt, on the road, and in selected county markets.

JUL. 26 8.2% annual inflation HICP / Romania / July 2026
8.2%headline inflation
3.4%electricity
24.2%fuel
4.6%food

01 / your receipt

Change the amount. See what happens to it.

Start with a July 2025 expense. Enter what you pay today on each line. The result uses price indices. It is not a personal bill promised by the statistics.

COMPARISON RECEIPT July 2025 → July 2026
starting amountsame expense, in July 2026
RON
313.92 RON
RON
271.70 RON
RON
155.09 RON
RON
310.62 RON
RON
109.14 RON
RON
series break
For the basket you chose+10.5%

The total uses only lines with a comparable series. Rent stays out until the series break is explained.

02 / the movement

Prices do not rise in chorus.

The index shows how far a category moved from July 2025. The 100 line is the starting point. Electricity and fuel pull the chart upward; the headline average hides the distance.

Normalised indices, July 2025 = 100

Monthly Eurostat series. Latest detailed month in this snapshot: July 2026.
Price movement by category Four HICP series, normalised to 100 in July 2025, through July 2026. 80100120140160 June 2024 July 2025 July 2026
Show on chart

What each line changed

Annual rates are rounded to one decimal place and come from the Eurostat HICP series. Two-year changes are calculated from the indices.

CategoryOne yearTwo yearsWhat it measures
Headline inflation+8.2%+15.3%the HICP basket overall
Food and non-alcoholic drinks+4.6%+13.1%food and non-alcoholic drinks
Housing, water, electricity, gas and fuels+8.7%+24.6%housing and utilities together
Electricity+3.4%+68.5%electricity
Gas+2.2%+1.9%gas
Fuels and lubricants for personal transport+24.2%+20.0%fuel for personal transport
Transport+14.1%+16.0%transport, all services
Passenger transport by rail+9.6%+24.1%rail
Passenger transport by road+9.1%+15.2%road passenger transport
Other passenger transport services+11.5%+19.9%other transport services
Actual rent for a main residenceseries breakjump in April 2026, rate withheld

03 / the litre

The excise was cut. The pump is not a simple calculator.

Emergency Ordinance 24/2026 cut the standard excise on diesel sold in Romania by RON 300 per 1,000 litres, or RON 0.30 per litre, from 7 April. Separately, the state-aid scheme for eligible purchases lists RON 0.85 per litre for April–December.

Both figures are fiscal measures. Neither guarantees the same drop at every pump for every driver.

Legal sources compensation scheme

standard exciseGeneral excise cut
RON 2,804.29 / 1,000 lRON 2,504.29 / 1,000 l−RON 0.30 / l
separateCompensation for eligible operators
RON 0.85 / l
from 7 April 2026, for the duration of the crisisscheme for eligible purchases: 1 April–31 December 2026

04 / county market

The same potato, different markets.

For regional variation, we use one clear TEMPO-INS series: autumn potatoes, monthly averages in food markets, at locality level. It is a market temperature, not a supermarket basket.

Choose a market
Botoșani
MUNICIPIUL BOTOȘANI
June 2025
3.75 RON/kg
June 2026
3.50 RON/kg
observed change-6.7%

Monthly averages in food markets, at locality level. They are not supermarket prices.

Missing data: Timișoara for June 2025 and București for June 2026.

The seven markets in the selection

A colon in the INS source means missing data. Change is calculated only when both months exist.

CountyLocalityJUN. 25JUN. 26Change
BotoșaniMUNICIPIUL BOTOȘANI3.753.50-6.7%
ClujMUNICIPIUL CLUJ-NAPOCA4.753.75-21.1%
ConstanțaMUNICIPIUL CONSTANȚA4.002.75-31.3%
DoljMUNICIPIUL CRAIOVA4.193.25-22.4%
IașiMUNICIPIUL IAȘI4.504.00-11.1%
TimișMUNICIPIUL TIMIȘOARAdate lipsă4.75date lipsă
Municipiul BucureștiMUNICIPIUL BUCUREȘTI5.32date lipsădate lipsă
How to read the numbersprc_hicp_minr

A good statistic also tells you where it stops.

HICP, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, makes comparisons across months and countries possible. It does not describe one family’s receipt: every household has different quantities, contracts and habits.

The annual rate compares a month with the same month a year earlier. For regulated-price categories, price changes can create large differences between months; read the figure alongside the series in the chart.

Actual rent is shown as a series, but it does not receive a growth rate. In the Eurostat snapshot, the index jumps from 104.92 in March 2026 to 140.08 in April 2026. Until the break is documented, calling that a rent increase would be misleading.

INS market prices are local averages and have seasonality. We do not mix them with HICP or use them to claim what all shopping costs in a county.

Snapshot built on 22 August 2026. Eurostat reports its latest update as 19 August 2026; TEMPO-INS reports 10 August 2026.