Romania
The light green area is the rest of the European Union
Romania was the 46th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP in 2018. Its GDP per capita was $12,301 USD. It is a regional leader in fields such as IT and motor vehicle production. It was ranked 31st in the Economic Complexity Index in 2017. It is a member of the EU. Services was the largest economic sector in 2018 (57 percent of GDP), followed by manufacturing (20.1 percent), and agriculture (4.3 percent). In 2017, the largest export sectors were services (24.6 percent), electronics (13.63 percent), vehicles (13.62), machinery (10.5 percent), and agriculture (10.1 percent). The largest individual exports were ICT services (14.2 percent), parts of motor vehicles (7.5 percent), insulated electronic wire (4.5 percent), and cars (4.12 percent). Its largest export partners were Germany (22.4 percent), Italy (9.8 percent), France (6.2 percent), and Hungary (4.37 percent). The largest goods imports were parts of motor vehicles (4.65 percent), crude oil (3.4 percent), cars (2.97 percent), and packaged medicaments (2.6 percent). After World War Two, Romania fell under Soviet control and the economy transitioned to a centrally planned economy with collectivisation of agriculture and the development of heavy industry. Nicoale Ceausescu came to power in 1965. He reduced the level of decentralisation and introduced a policy of using western technology to produce exports for less developed countries. He was also responsible for turning Romania into a police state. By the 1980s, Romania had high public debt after borrowing from the West in the 1970s. The debt was serviced by switching domestic production to exports resulting in shortages and a general decrease in the standard of living. Following the end of communist rule in 1989, reforms and growth were slow. In the 2000s, reforms related to the EU accession process spurred growth by increasing FDI and productivity. Accession in 2007 led to increased exports. Romania was hit hard by the global financial crisis and turned to the EU and IMF for a bailout followed by a standby facility which ended in 2015. Growth rebounded after 2013, driven by strong industrial exports, excellent agricultural harvests, and, more recently, expansionary fiscal policies. The IT sector has also showed impressive growth. Further growth can be unlocked through better fiscal discipline, improving infrastructure, and continuing the fight against corruption.