eToro survey: Pessimism about the Prospects of the Romanian Economy Continues to Increase, but Romanians are staying invested     

The ongoing political crisis in Romania deepens and this might have contributed to the continuation of the deterioration of local retail investors’ trust in the Romanian economy, according to the latest Retail Investor Beat survey from etoro. Meanwhile, persistent inflation took confidence in income and living standards to its lowest value since the beginning of the poll three years ago.

The level of trust in the Romanian economy has continued its deterioration compared to the previous quarter, with 69% of Romanian retail investors saying they are not confident about its prospects, slightly up from 68% at the end of the second quarter of this year. Also, the poll found that more investors are seeing the state of the Romanian economy as the main external risk to their portfolios (+3 percentage points) than in the previous quarter. In fact, when looking at how investors see the biggest external risks for their portfolios, 25% cited inflation, and 24% cited the state of the Romanian economy, including a potential recession, while the state of the global economy was mentioned by 21%.

Political crisis and inflation drive economic distrust

The political crisis triggered by the dismissal of the Bolojan government, combined with the highest inflation in the EU, might explain the increase in distrust in the Romanian economy’s prospects. As the political crisis deepens, the risk of a downgrade of Romania by the rating agencies increases, and this might make investors more cautious. We have also seen a slight decrease in confidence in personal income, living standards, and the cost of living, most likely due to persistent inflation.

In the third quarter of 2026, 62% of Romanian retail investors were confident about their income and living standards compared with 63% in the previous quarter but far from the 66% at the end of last year. It is the lowest level since the start of the survey, three years ago. When it comes to job security, the latest poll shows a stationary level of confidence at 70% of respondents, also the lowest level in the past three years.

Retail investors maintain portfolio confidence

Despite this, the latest quarterly poll results show that Romanian retail investors increased their confidence in their own investment portfolios to 77% from 73% a quarter ago, a sign that they are seeing market opportunities regardless of the situation at home. In terms of portfolio allocation, 51% own a form of cryptoassets, 49% of Romanian retail investors own local stocks, 41% have foreign equities, 40% have domestic bonds, while almost 72% keep cash, including in savings accounts. After last quarter, when we witnessed for the first time in the past three years less than half (42%) of Romanian investors holding crypto in their portfolios, most likely due to bitcoin’s price slump, its recent appreciation above $ 80,000 brought back some investors into crypto.

When asked if they intend to increase their investments in the next three months, 42% of Romanian retail investors responded affirmatively, while 50% said that they will make no changes. Only 8% intend to decrease the value of their investments, a sign that the vast majority are staying in the market.

Investment asset and sector preferences

The asset classes where investors want to increase their holdings are foreign equities (18%), followed by cash assets, including savings accounts (15%), crypto (14%), stocks from the Bucharest Stock Exchange (13%), alternative investments like real estate and private equity (9%), and foreign currencies (8%). One interesting move is the decrease in appetite for domestic bonds (6%) from 10% last quarter, most likely due to the unknown outcome of Romania’s rating announcements.

The sectors in which Romanian investors intend to increase their investments are technology (18%), followed by energy and financial services (15% each), utilities (9%) and real estate (8%). We are seeing a slightly increased interest in financial institutions compared with the previous quarter, as the high interest rates might be a catalyst.