In 1996, when Colliers entered the Romanian market, modern retail was only just emerging. That same year, Metro opened the country’s first cash-and-carry store, at a time when most shopping still took place in markets, department stores and traditional retail formats. Bucharest Mall followed in 1999, while the first Carrefour hypermarket opened in 2001. Within just a few years, modern retail began expanding rapidly from Bucharest into Romania’s major cities, supported by rising incomes, broader access to credit and the country’s approaching accession to the European Union. In the early 2000s, Romania’s modern retail stock was estimated at only around 100,000 square metres, compared with more than 5 million square metres today. The difference illustrates just how much both the real estate market and the way Romanians shop and consume have changed within a single generation.
” If we compare 1996 with today’s market, the difference is enormous. Modern retail was only just beginning to emerge back then. Today, consumers have access to brands and retail formats comparable with those in Western European markets, while development is no longer concentrated only in Bucharest and the largest cities. In recent years, the most important shift has been the expansion into smaller cities, where there is still considerable room for growth”, says Simina Niculiță, Director | Partner | Retail Agency, Colliers Romania.
From the shopping centre boom to expansion into smaller cities
Romania’s accession to the European Union gave the market a major boost, as real incomes were rising, access to credit was expanding and international retailers viewed Romania as one of the markets with the strongest growth potential in the region. The market did not, however, grow at a constant pace. The boom ahead of the global financial crisis brought some of Romania’s largest retail developments, with around 400,000 - 500,000 square metres of new retail space delivered each year in 2007-2008. The crisis brought that pace of development to an abrupt halt, with many projects postponed, frozen or abandoned. AFI Cotroceni, covering approximately 76,000 square metres, opened in 2009, at the height of the recession, and later became one of the strongest-performing shopping centres in the market.
The 2009-2013 period also highlighted the importance of a shopping centre’s position within a city. Strong projects continued to attract tenants even during difficult years, while others lost ground or exited the market. Following the crisis, developers became more cautious, placing greater emphasis on location, purchasing power and the real potential of each catchment area.
Another major shift came with the expansion of retail parks, which brought modern retail to towns with populations of below 50,000 inhabitants. Lower development costs compared with traditional shopping centres made such projects viable in locations that previously had very few modern shopping options. Retail parks have significantly reshaped Romania’s modern retail landscape precisely because they can operate successfully in smaller towns where a more expensive shopping centre development would not be successful . While the 2000s were dominated by large shopping centres and landmark projects, recent years have brought greater geographical expansion and formats better suited to smaller cities.
This shift is also reflected in recent deliveries. Romania passed the 5 million square metre threshold of modern retail space in 2025, when approximately 185,000 square metres were delivered across 13 projects, following a 2020-2024 period in which annual deliveries averaged around 145,000 square metres. For 2026, Colliers estimates approximately 150,000 square metres of new retail space, slightly below last year’s level, with a solid pipeline for 2027.
Retail supply has remained below the potential suggested by the growth in purchasing power.
” Romanian retail has expanded considerably, but in recent years,consumers have moved even faster. Purchasing power in Romania is now much closer to levels seen in Central European markets, yet the country still has a much lower density of modern retail space. The gap is particularly visible in small and medium-sized cities, where we continue to see interest from both developers and retailers and where there is still room for new projects”, explains Liana Dumitru, Director Retail Agency at Colliers.
Romania has around 270 square metres of modern retail space per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with approximately 400-500 in Hungary, Czechia and Poland. The gap is particularly significant given how much Romanians’ purchasing power has increased over the past three decades. Colliers also notes that while at a national level, the gap between Romania has a retail stock around 1.7x smaller than in Czechia and Poland on a per capita basis, the gap grows to 2.7x in case of cities with a population of below 100,000 inhabitants.
Around 2000, the average net monthly salary in Romania was just over 100 euros. Today, it exceeds 1,000 euros. Romania’s convergence with the region has been equally rapid: in 2000, the net income of an employee in Romania was roughly half that of an employee in Hungary and less than one-third of that of an employee in Poland. By 2025, annual net income in Romania had reached approximately 13,900 euros, 90% of the level in Hungary and around 75% of the level in Poland. At the same time, GDP per capita doubled between 2017 and 2025, from approximately 9,500 euros to around 20,000 euros.
How will the retail market evolve from here?
The market is now entering a more mature stage. Growth in the coming years will come from a combination of large shopping centre projects in major cities, the expansion of different retail concepts into small and medium-sized cities, and the repositioning or modernisation of existing shopping centres that are now 15-20 years old. Developers are paying closer attention to location and costs, retailers are monitoring store performance more closely, while consumers have become more sensitive to value for money. At the same time, dominant shopping centres continue to record high occupancy levels, while discount and convenience formats remain among the most active segments.
Shopping centres delivered before 2010 are already in need of upgrades to common areas, entertainment concepts and food courts. The market has already seen the first successful projects in this direction, and Colliers expects more such initiatives as existing shopping centres continue to age. The growth of online retail has not halted the development of physical retail space either. In Romania, e-commerce has expanded alongside modern retail in a market where the supply of retail space has remained relatively low compared with demand.
Although consumption growth slowed in 2025-2026, Colliers consultants see this period as one of consolidation following several years of strong expansion, rather than a change in direction. Developer interest in new retail development sites returned towards the end of 2025, indicating that new projects are already being prepared for the period through to 2030.
The market’s growing maturity is also reflected in major investment transactions. In 2026, AFI Europe acquired six MAS retail assets for a gross transactional value of around 297 million euros, in the largest retail transaction in the history of the local market. Two decades earlier, the sale of Polus Center Cluj for more than 200 million euros marked the point at which retail began to be viewed as an important institutional real estate investment.
After three decades of transformation, one of the clearest conclusions for Colliers consultants is that modern retail is no longer a story centred only on Bucharest and Romania’s largest cities. New developments are increasingly concentrated in small and medium-sized cities, where supply remains below the level suggested by purchasing power and consumption. This continues to support market growth, albeit at a more selective pace, with projects increasingly tailored to the size and needs of each local community.
