RO
The Romanian Factoring Association today publishes the results of the annual ARF–Ipsos study for the full year 2025. The Romanian factoring market reached a total volume of EUR 10.503 billion — nearly six times higher than the EUR 1.8 billion recorded 15 years ago — consolidating its position as an essential financial instrument for Romanian companies across all size segments and regions of the country.
Key market figures for 2025
The ARF–Ipsos 2025 study, based on data collected from the main market participants — both association members and non-members — between January 20 and February 6, 2026, provides a comprehensive overview of the Romanian factoring market for the 2025 financial year.
- Total market volume: EUR 10.503 billion, up 12% compared with 2024 (EUR 9.356 billion).
- Domestic factoring: EUR 9.289 billion — 88% of the market, up 13% compared with 2024.
- Export factoring: EUR 1.050 billion — 10% of the market, up 8% compared with 2024.
- Import factoring: EUR 163.6 million — 2% of the market, up 3% compared with 2024.
Market growth accelerated compared with the first half of 2025 (H1 2025: EUR 4.89 billion total), confirming a sustained positive dynamic throughout the year.
Market structure: non-recourse factoring and the consolidation of risk-transfer preference
The Romanian factoring market is 89% dominated by non-recourse factoring, products that transfer the risk of non-payment from the supplier to the factor. This share increased by 12% compared with 2024, reflecting both a maturation of demand and a better understanding of the benefits of outsourcing credit-risk management.
Within domestic non-recourse factoring, Reverse Factoring — a product through which large companies optimize their supply chains and improve the liquidity of their commercial partners — reached a volume of EUR 3.624 billion, up 6% compared with 2024.
Economic sectors driving growth
Overall, the domestic factoring market is relatively balanced across sectors, with FMCG (15%), Vehicles, machinery and equipment (13.4%), and Forestry, wood processing and construction (13%) accounting for the largest shares.
In terms of growth compared with 2024, the most dynamic sectors in domestic factoring were:
- Transport and storage: +50%
- Energy: +40%
- Forestry, wood processing and construction: +30%
- Automotive: +30%
- Metals: +30%
The only sector recording a decline in domestic factoring was Electronics, IT and telecommunications (-20%).
In export factoring, the dominant sector remains Metals, chemicals, water and recycling, although strong momentum was also observed in Agriculture, fishing and food products, Energy, and Transport and storage, while export factoring in the Automotive sector declined by 20%.
Geography: Bucharest-Ilfov dominant, with regional expansion emerging
The factoring market remains geographically concentrated in Bucharest-Ilfov, which accounts for 49% of the total volume — more than EUR 5 billion. South-Muntenia ranks second with 16% of the total (approximately EUR 1.6 billion), followed by the North-West region (9%, around EUR 900 million).
Compared with 2024, domestic factoring recorded the strongest growth in South-Muntenia (+80%), followed by Centre (+46%) and North-East (+33%), while the South-East region declined by approximately 30%. This geographical redistribution suggests that the factoring market is expanding beyond the capital region, validating the potential of regions with strong industrial and agricultural activity.
In export factoring, South-West Oltenia remains the center of gravity, accounting for 45% of total export volume, driven mainly by the Metals, chemicals and recycling sector.
Client base and operational complexity rising sharply
A key indicator of market health and depth is the evolution of the number of active clients and client-debtor relationships managed within factoring portfolios. In 2025, the market recorded a 40% increase in active client-debtor relationships, reflecting an acceleration in portfolio complexity significantly faster than the growth in the number of clients.
This dynamic suggests that existing clients are engaging an increasing number of debtors within the same factoring relationships, indicating deeper adoption of the product as a regular cash-flow management tool.
Democratization of access: smaller companies gaining share
A notable trend in 2025 is the increase in the share of small companies (turnover below EUR 5 million), which rose from 18% in 2024 to 22% in 2025 — an increase of 4 percentage points.
At the same time, the share of large companies (turnover above EUR 50 million) declined from 48% to 45%, while mid-sized companies decreased slightly from 34% to 32%.
This evolution confirms that factoring is gradually transforming from a financing tool primarily used by large corporations into a solution increasingly accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises, improving liquidity access for a broader segment of the economy.
Payment discipline: slight improvement
The average payment delay of debtors relative to contractual terms declined to 6.4 days in 2025 (from 7 days in 2024 and 8 days in H1 2025). This positive trend reflects both more rigorous debtor selection and monitoring by factors and a general improvement in financial discipline across the economy.
Statements
Private-sector resilience amid fiscal consolidation
“**The 12% growth of the factoring market in 2025 must be interpreted within Romania’s real macroeconomic context: a year in which real GDP growth remained below 1%, inflation exceeded 9.5% at year-end, the National Bank of Romania’s policy rate remained frozen at 6.5%, and the budget deficit stayed around 8.4% of GDP — the highest in the European Union.
Under these conditions, a 12% expansion in the factoring industry is not a trivial performance; it is evidence that Romania’s private sector has actively sought and found alternative financing instruments to traditional bank credit, which has become more expensive and restrictive in a high-interest-rate environment.
Crossing the EUR 10.5 billion threshold confirms not only the maturation of this instrument within the Romanian economy but also its structural impact on financing the real economy. In 2025, factoring was one of the few financial segments that grew against the macroeconomic tide.**”
Bogdan Roșu
President, Romanian Factoring Association
Inflation and the liquidity squeeze as drivers of adoption
“**There is an apparent paradox in the 2025 data: an economy that entered a technical recession in the fourth quarter and a factoring market expanding at an accelerated pace. The paradox becomes simple when we understand the mechanism: inflation close to 10%, combined with wage freezes in the public sector and weakening consumption, placed enormous pressure on corporate cash flows.
Payment terms lengthened, the cost of capital remained high, and credit became even more selective. In such an environment, factoring — particularly non-recourse factoring — becomes not merely a financial optimization tool but an operational necessity.
The increase in the number of new clients, including from the small-company segment, confirms precisely this dynamic.**”
Bogdan Roșu
President, Romanian Factoring Association
Outlook for 2026: fiscal consolidation, disinflation and industry opportunity
“**Looking ahead to 2026, Romania’s macroeconomic landscape is changing, though not necessarily becoming simpler. The European Commission projects GDP growth of around 1.1%, while the National Bank of Romania expects inflation to decline to approximately 3.7% by year-end, supported by favorable base effects and ongoing fiscal consolidation.
The first cycle of monetary policy rate cuts — expected sometime between May and August 2026 — will gradually create space for a recovery in lending. This means the factoring market is entering a year in which the monetary environment becomes more supportive, but competition for corporate financing clients will intensify.
Our industry must be prepared to demonstrate the distinctive value of factoring compared with traditional credit, rather than relying on market liquidity shortages as the primary engine of growth.**”
Bogdan Roșu
President, Romanian Factoring Association
Methodological note
The ARF–Ipsos 2025 study was conducted by Ipsos Romania on behalf of the Romanian Factoring Association based on an online questionnaire completed by banks and non-bank financial institutions — both ARF members and non-members — between January 20 and February 6, 2026.
The data covers the entire 2025 calendar year. The H1 2025 study and the 2024 annual study provide the comparative framework for interpreting the results.