Immigration to Romania

Immigration to Romania is less common than immigration to most other European Union countries, with Romania having 3.6% of the population foreign born as of 2021. Among immigrants, the most common countries of birth were Republic of Moldova (40%), Italy (11%) and Spain (9%). About two thirds of the foreign born population consists of labour migrants.

Romania has recently experienced a growing wave of immigration, mostly from the Republic of Moldova, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Southeast Asia, and East Asia and to a lesser extent other parts of the world. In January 2017, 0.9% of immigrants were born in other EU member states, and 1.2% were born outside the EU.

According to DIICOT, Romania has evolved since 1990 from a country of transit for illegal migrants to a country of destination. Within the European Union, the country has the second highest rate of immigration from non-EU countries (86%), just behind Slovenia (90%). Most immigrants in Romania are from Europe. Among non-European immigrants, most are from Asia and North Africa.