Annually, over 200,000 Romanians leave the country as emigrants. Many of those who returned after a few years claim that, despite a higher standard of living, they have not been able to adapt to Western societies, especially in communities where the number of Romanians is small.
Approximately four million Romanians live outside the country, in European states, and the number of those who migrate annually continues to exceed 200,000 people, according to the reports of the National Institute of Statistics.
In the last three years, the number of those who moved from Romania was lower by several tens of thousands than the number of immigrants. In 2024, according to the INS, approximately 230,000 people emigrated from Romania, while 288,000 people immigrated.
“Net international migration in 2024 was positive. The number of immigrants exceeded the number of emigrants by 58,800 people, Romania being, also in 2024, a country of immigration. However, the balance of international migration, which decreased compared to previous years, was not enough to compensate for the negative natural increase (-102,000 people). Consequently, on January 1, 2025, the resident population of Romania (19,036,031 people) was lower than on the same date of the previous year“, informed the INS representatives.
Italy, Spain, Germany, France and England are home to the largest Romanian communities in Europe, each with hundreds of thousands of Romanian residents. In general, those who live in these communities experience fewer adjustment problems.
After several years spent in the West, many Romanians returned to their native places, however, say that, although they appreciate the standard of living and the incomes of the countries that “adopted” them temporarily, it was difficult for them to adapt to those societies.
Romania does not offer them everything they wanted either, and their future plans often put them in difficulty. However, compared to the years of communism when many Romanians risked their lives by fleeing the country and the momentum with which Romanians left the country in the 90s and 2000s, the West has become more accessible, and the desire to leave Romania (again) is more dim for many Romanians. Not only the incomes sought, but also the cultural barriers encountered in previous experiences cause some of them to think more before making the decision to emigrate.
In general, among the countries that raise the most difficulties for Romanians are the Scandinavian states, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where the Romanian communities number only a few tens of thousands of people.
Loneliness and homesickness keep Romanians close
Some Romanians returned after several years from countries with small Romanian communities told why it would be difficult for them to start from the beginning in such countries.
A Romanian programmer who had lived in the Netherlands for three years claims that he preferred to return to Romania, because he paid 1,500 euros per month for rent and utilities, while at home he had his own home and bought a car. Almost three years after returning to the country, the plan to leave the West again came back to his mind, but the prospect of loneliness stops him from taking this step.
“I was doing well in the Netherlands: I had stability, you couldn’t be kicked out overnight, and the people were more civilized. But the loneliness and the fact that absolutely everything is a luxury in the Netherlands pushed me to put a card on Romania. The last year deeply disgusted me: from the elections, to the industry, to the whole general context. In 3 years my income decreased enormously. Only now I breathe a little easier. I would sell everything and I wouldn’t look back, but loneliness is so bad”, he states.
Someone else seeks to explain why, unlike other peoples, many Romanians who go abroad always tend to return home, even from countries where they have higher incomes.
“Leaving is hard. I don’t know why no one says that clearly. Most of those who emigrated are nostalgic; they talk almost exclusively about the ‘motherland.’ It’s suffering. It’s tough. We tend to turn around, but often it’s still not good. I know people who have come back from Switzerland. They earned colossal sums, compared to the real incomes in Romania. And yet, they came back. Calling the earth, literally. Why don’t westerners experience this? Because they don’t leave,” believe this one.
Another Romanian who arrived in the Netherlands tells, on Reddit, that being in Amsterdam, he was approached by a young man just to converse with him in Romanian.
“He asked us if he could stay with us for 5-10 minutes, just to speak Romanian, because he missed Romania and hadn’t spoken in his native language for some time. I found out that he worked in IT and had been in Holland for about 5 years. He had no Dutch friends, he told us that the Dutch don’t include foreigners in their circles, but neither do they have Romanian friends, because he didn’t find many Romanians there. He had friends from other nations, but all immigrants. He was homesick and thinking about going back. It seemed very strange and sad at the same time.” he states.
Another Romanian, settled in the Netherlands, claims that the Dutch make friends from kindergarten and stay with them. And out of convenience, I don’t really take many steps to build a new friendship.
Between the longing for Romania and the desire to leave
A Romanian woman told that she lived for eight years in Denmark and worked at the Oracle company, earning well. After he returned to Romania, in 2022, his income decreased, but so did his desire to go to the West again.
“I bought an apartment and settled in Romania. Why? My partner. I love him and he wouldn’t move to another country. I tried to convince him, it didn’t work. The reintegration was not easy and there are days when I reach the ground with my nerves. But, little by little, it is becoming more and more bearable”. says the young woman.
In Switzerland, one of the richest countries in Europe, appreciated for its high standard of living, between 20,000 and 30,000 Romanians live, but some of them admit that it is difficult for them to make friends among the locals.
“If you want to be friends with a Swiss, his only friend must die first” jokes a Romanian. Instead, adds another, expats are more eager to bond with friends.
Socialization is almost completely absent, says another Romanian, returned from Switzerland. A man tells that he returned from Norway because he missed his loved ones and because it seemed to him that Romania was going in a better direction. Now, he adds, he has returned to the idea of giving them a new chance to be foreign.
“Emigration is like a relationship: there is a period of “infatuation”, then you start to see the less pleasant parts. Some “divorce” and return. Others stay. None is a universally correct choice. Because, no matter how many years you live in another country, you remain “Romanian”. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you are constantly put in the same pot with all the associated frustrations and hatred, it becomes a burden. Either you you resign, or you come back and find that your friends and family have grown older without you, not poorer, just happier. At least that’s been my experience after 10 years.” he concludes.
Another Romanian says that he returned from a Nordic country to Romania only because he failed to make friends there, while in Romania this can be solved by simply going out.
