KRUK Analysis: 65% of Romanians do not have emergency funds, while a quarter of the Polish population could live even a year out of these savings

If they were to run out of income, 65% of Romanians would not be able to cover their expenses for even a week. Almost half (46%) of the population do not make savings, and of those who do, 27% do not put money aside in an emergency fund, according to the results of the latest national study reflecting Romanians’ attitudes and habits in the financial field, made by KRUK Romania together with IRES in November this year. In contrast, 25% of Polish people say they could live at least a year on the money accumulated in such a fund, according to a comparative analysis by the company.

“There is a key difference between the money set aside for imminent situations, to which we have immediate access, and the long-term savings. The first step that Romanians who are concerned with their financial independence should take is to provide an emergency fund that is always at hand. Budget planning and saving define the level of financial education of a community. In Romania, half of the population manages their budget responsibly, planning monthly expenses, and a little over 50% would put their money to work if they had a large amount. In addition, the fact that over 90% of Romanians feel the need for financial education leads us to invest even more in KRUK Romania’s objective of increasing the literacy rate in this respect, from 8 to 20% by 2030,” says Liviu Costică, COO of KRUK Romania.

29% of Romanians never plan their budget, and 30% can afford to buy only what is strictly necessary, the study shows. However, 10% of the population cannot afford basic expenses, while in Poland, the percentage of those with insufficient income is only 3%.

If they had a large amount of money, 14% of Romanians would not save at all. Otherwise, most (33%) would deposit the money at the bank or invest in real estate (11%), while only 5% of those surveyed would open a business and only 2% would be willing to invest on the stock exchange. 14% of the population would keep the money at hand.

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In terms of priorities, the majority of respondents first pay their utilities and services (98%), then the usual household purchases (95%) and the health expenditure (95%); instalments (88%) would be paid before the transport (76%) and education costs (68%).

Romanians accumulate arrears especially on invoices, due to too low incomes or unforeseen situations; their percentage (18%) is almost double than that recorded in Poland (10%), and the comparative analysis reveals differences in terms of debt responsibility: only 32% of Romanians believe they are personally responsible for the difficulties caused by the failure to pay financial obligations on time, compared to 43% of Polish respondents. Although fear of social stigma and the pressure of penalties are driving more Romanians to pay their arrears, 13% say they can live in peace even if they delay the payment, and 40% of those surveyed think it is unfair to be foreclosed if they do not pay on time. 88% expect to be rewarded if they pay off their debts on maturity.

The good news is that the average amount saved by those who manage to put money aside has increased to lei 1314 in 2023 (lei 960 in 2021, lei 1125 in 2022), but also the percentage of those who manage to raise over lei 1000 per month increased from 20% last year to 27% in 2023.  

The research was conducted by KRUK Romania, market leader in debt management, together with IRES in November this year, to mark the “Debt-free Day” – an international initiative of the KRUK Group, conducted for the twelfth consecutive year on November 17. The results of the study are representative at national, urban/rural level, on the active population of 18 to 65 years, within an error margin of ±4%.