Romania has one of the lowest shares of journalists in total employment, below 0.1 percent, as this industry struggles to survive in the digital age.
According to fresh Eurostat data, published to mark the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, in 2018 there were around 0.4 million journalists in the European Union, equivalent to 0.2 percent of total EU employment.
“The Member States with the highest share of journalists were Sweden and Croatia (both 0.4 percent of total employment). In contrast, the lowest share (0.1 percent of total employment) was in five Member States: Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia,” Eurostat said.
However, in several EU member states, including Romania, official data have low reliability.
National data indicate that 16,300 persons in Romania are employed in publishing activities, while 50,400 persons are working in economic activities associated with journalism such as the publication of newspapers, magazines and journals.
Smaller countries in the EU such as Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark or Greece have more journalists than Romania, according to official data.