Immigration to Romania is less common than immigration to most other European Union countries, with Romania having 3.6% of the population foreign born as of 2021.[1] Among immigrants, the most common countries of birth were Republic of Moldova (40%), Italy (11%) and Spain (9%).[1] About two thirds of the foreign born population consists of labour migrants.[1]
Romania has recently experienced a growing wave of immigration, mostly from the Republic of Moldova, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Southeast Asia, and East Asia[2] and to a lesser extent other parts of the world. In January 2017, 0.9% of immigrants were born in other EU member states, and 1.2% were born outside the EU.[3]
According to DIICOT, Romania has evolved since 1990 from a country of transit for illegal migrants to a country of destination.[4] Within the European Union, the country has the second highest rate of immigration from non-EU countries (86%), just behind Slovenia (90%).[5] Most immigrants in Romania are from Europe. Among non-European immigrants, most are from Asia and North Africa.