Romania recorded the third-fastest growth in spending on eating out globally, after Turkmenistan and China, out of a sample of nearly 80 countries analyzed across Europe, Asia, and North America, according to Oxford Economics data cited by Colliers.

In 2024, the average Romanian household spent around 830 euros on dining out, totaling nearly 6.2 billion euros nationwide, more than four times the amount spent a decade ago. According to Colliers experts, this increase reflects rising living standards, accelerated urbanization and generational shifts, all of which directly influence consumer behavior and, by extension, the housing market.

“Although this marks a significant increase since 2010, Romania is still behind other countries in the region, as the net amount spent, and especially behind those in Western Europe. For instance, the average household in Hungary spends annually around 2,000 euros, while in the Czech Republic the figure is nearly 1,700 euros. One possible explanation is that Romania still has one of the largest rural populations in Europe, which weighs on the national average. In other words, the real difference in living costs and expenditures between someone from Bucharest, Cluj or Timisoara and someone from Budapest, Brno or Prague is smaller than these figures might suggest”, explains Liana Dumitru, Director Retail Agency at Colliers.

The increase in the amount of money spent on dining out, which has grown almost fivefold, far exceeds the rate of inflation and reflects a clear shift in Romanian consumption behavior. According to Colliers consultants, this trend is driven by rising incomes, as salaries have more than doubled in real terms over the past decade, as well as by a generational shift. Young people are more open to experimenting and exploring new tastes, turning eating out into a form of socializing, self-indulgence or discovery. Dining out is no longer an occasional luxury; it is increasingly becoming part of everyday urban life.

At the same time, the success of events such as “Open Streets” and “Street Delivery,” which involve closing certain urban areas to car traffic and opening them up to people, demonstrates a strong appetite for street shopping despite the rapid growth of online retail over the past decade. According to Colliers experts, this interest is also rooted in a cultural trait: Romanians often prefer to see or test a product before making a purchase. Eurostat data supports this trend, indicating that face-to-face interaction still plays an important role in the buying process. This opens up meaningful opportunities for developing pedestrian-friendly shopping areas and investing in local, proximity-based retail.

“High-street shopping is undergoing a visible transformation, which is expected to become even more pronounced in the coming years. Major cities already feature areas where both locals and tourists naturally gather, but the overcrowding in these spaces highlights a clear need for expansion. This is why we anticipate a wave of real estate investment aimed at capitalizing on this potential, increasingly focusing on central areas and residential communities that are open to local commerce”, underlines Liana Dumitru, Director Retail Agency at Colliers.

Romanians spend, on average, just 3.3% of their disposable income on dining out, according to Colliers experts. By comparison, in Southern European countries such as Spain, Greece, and Portugal, this percentage exceeds 10%. Although Romania is far from reaching that level, the rising rhythm of spending is encouraging  experts to believe that a doubling of this share is realistic in the long term, especially given changing lifestyles and rising incomes, meaning that the budget for dining out could reach well over 10 billion euros within the next 10 years.