In January–August 2026 Romania earned 30.88 billion euros from services exports, up from 28.61 billion in the same months of 2025, a rise of 7.9%. Services imports rose 7.8% to 21.53 billion. The surplus therefore reached 9.34 billion euros, 712 million more than a year earlier. The figures are from the National Bank of Romania, as reported by Curs de Guvernare; they are not investment advice.

Transport posted a surplus of 4.63 billion euros, up 13.7%. Information and telecoms generated 5.08 billion, up 11%. Processing of goods owned by others stayed in surplus at 1.84 billion. Tourism remained in deficit: minus 2.98 billion, slightly shallower than minus 3.02 billion in 2025, because spending by foreign visitors here rose faster than spending by Romanians abroad.

The services surplus covered about 41.7% of the goods trade deficit, against 40% a year earlier. It was not enough. The current-account deficit widened by 942 million euros to 19.93 billion. The goods balance deteriorated by 818 million, to a deficit of 22.39 billion.

Primary income — wages, interest, dividends and profits leaving the country — showed a deficit of 6.67 billion, 295 million larger. Secondary income, which includes remittances, swung from a surplus of 322 million to a deficit of 219 million. In August alone the current account lost 3.64 billion euros.

Non-residents' direct investment fell to 2.12 billion euros from 5.66 billion in the first eight months of 2025. Total external debt rose to 238.08 billion. Import cover for goods and services stood at 5.9 months at the end of August, against 6 months at the end of 2025.

Services are therefore carrying part of the bill. They do not close the account. Reading the 9.34 billion surplus as a stand-alone victory ignores a current-account gap of almost 20 billion.

Image: Britchi Mirela, National Bank of Romania, Lipscani, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive facade, not the October 2026 data release.

Sources consulted: Romania exported 30.9bn euros of services in the first 8 months - Curs de Guvernare; Balance of payments and external debt - August 2026 - Nine O'Clock / NBR.