Approximately one in five (21.1%) households in Romania fall below the poverty line after paying energy bills, according to the new annual report published by the Romanian Observatory of Energy Poverty (ORSE). The data shows the significant impact of energy costs on living standards and confirms that the phenomenon remains a major challenge at national level, especially in a context marked by new tensions on international energy markets. Energy poverty particularly affects rural areas and individual homes, and the inclusion of gas cylinder costs shows an even greater pressure on household budgets.

The 2025 annual report published by ORSE takes into account the evolution of the energy poverty phenomenon in Romania between 2020 and 2024. In calculating the indicators, ORSE uses data from the Household Budget Survey (ABF), published by the National Institute of Statistics.

The analysis carried out by ORSE shows that energy vulnerability is determined by a combination of factors – low income, energy-inefficient housing and limited access to modern technologies. The effects are unevenly distributed across regions, living environments and types of housing.

“Energy poverty is a complex phenomenon, which cannot be described by a single indicator. To truly understand the scale of the problem, we must simultaneously analyze data on income, residential environment, energy costs, consumption and housing characteristics. We need integrated data to be able to build effective public policies”, says Anca Sinea, coordinator of the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory.

Households with the lowest incomes, severely affected

As ORSE has also signaled in previous analyses, the pressure of energy costs is increasingly spreading to households with middle incomes.

However, the situation remains dramatic for households with the lowest incomes (income deciles 1 and 2). All families in the first income decile and 72% of those in the second income decile fell below the poverty line after paying their energy bills, according to the modified European LIHC (“low income, high cost”) indicator – adapted by ORSE to the national context to better reflect situations of vulnerability. In comparison, the national average is 21.1% of households, according to the latest available data analyzed by ORSE experts for 2024.

The indicator used in the analysis (modified LIHC) basically measures situations in which energy costs push families below the minimum income level necessary for survival.

Also, almost half (44%) of households in the first income decile practiced energy underconsumption, a severe form of energy poverty.

Important regional differences

The highest levels of energy poverty are recorded in the North-East region, where approximately 32% of households fell below the material poverty threshold after paying for energy. Also in this region, 26% of households reduced their consumption below the level adequate to their needs, the highest percentage at national level. At the opposite pole, Bucharest-Ilfov records the lowest values: only 6% of households fall below the poverty threshold after paying energy bills and 7% practice underconsumption.

Rural areas, the most affected

The data from the ORSE report show that energy poverty is much more widespread in rural areas. Approximately 75% of households that consume below the minimum energy level are located in rural areas. The same proportion – 75% – is also found in the case of households that fall below the poverty threshold after paying for energy.

These results reflect structural differences between rural and urban areas, including lower income levels, lower energy efficiency of homes and limited access to modern energy infrastructure.

However, the burden of energy costs also affects urban areas. Approximately 52% of households that allocate more than 10% of their budget to energy are located in urban areas, and 48% in rural areas. At the same time, energy overconsumption is more common in cities (56%) than in rural areas (44%), reflecting differences in consumption and access to modern energy infrastructure.

These results show that while rural areas need accelerated investments in access to clean, affordable and diversified energy sources, as well as in energy efficiency of homes, urban areas require efficiency-oriented measures and consumption optimization, adapted to the specificities of urban infrastructure and lifestyle.

Individual homes, more vulnerable

The type of housing significantly influences the risk of energy poverty. In Romania, approximately 60% of households live in single-family homes, the majority (74%) located in rural areas.

According to data from the ORSE report, 87% of households that fall below the poverty line after paying for energy live in houses and only 13% in apartments. Also, 83% of households that reduce energy consumption below the minimum required level also live in individual homes. The most affected by energy underconsumption are wooden and adobe homes – 36% and 30% of these households, respectively.

Therefore, households living in houses are significantly more vulnerable to energy poverty than those living in apartments. This conclusion underlines the importance of extending public energy efficiency programs to individual homes, not just apartment buildings.

Gas cylinders increase pressure on budgets

The ORSE 2025 report also highlights the important role of gas cylinders for cooking, used by approximately 43% of households in Romania, especially where there are no natural gas networks – mainly in rural areas.

Given the extent of this practice, including gas cylinder expenses in the analysis of energy costs provides a more accurate picture of the real pressure on household budgets. Excluding this source leads to an underestimation of energy poverty for certain segments of the population.

If these costs are included in the calculation of energy expenses, the proportion of households at national level that spend over 10% of income on energy increases to 32.3%, compared to 25.5% in the version that does not include this component. Also, the proportion of households that fall below the material poverty threshold after paying energy bills increases to 22.4%.

These developments show that the use of gas cylinders, essential for covering basic energy needs, has a significant impact on household budgets. In the absence of policies dedicated to developing infrastructure and facilitating access to modern energy resources, households dependent on cylinders remain exposed to high risks of vulnerability, with direct effects on the quality of life and development of communities, according to the ORSE report.

Solutions proposed by ORSE experts

“Fighting energy poverty cannot be achieved only through temporary measures on bills. Structural policies are needed – investments in energy efficiency of homes, access to modern technologies and energy solutions adapted to local communities”, says George Jiglău, ORSE coordinator.

The report emphasizes that an effective approach to energy poverty requires structural public policies, including:

• development of an integrated national data system on energy poverty;
• strengthening cooperation between institutions and the energy sector;
• strengthening and institutionalizing the inter-ministerial group for energy poverty;
• differentiated policies according to the type of vulnerability and the definition of minimum energy needs;
• expansion of support instruments, such as the energy card – which can be used in a more flexible way (bill payment or energy efficiency investments);
• strengthening of one-stop shops as local support instruments for citizens;
• supporting community solutions and local energy autonomy.

The report confirms the need for flexible public policies to protect the population, adapted to the dynamic nature of energy vulnerability. The analysis comes in a context in which energy prices are once again registering steep increases against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, a phenomenon similar to that of the autumn of 2021 and after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, when the rapid increase in bills led to the introduction of price capping mechanisms.

ORSE experts emphasize that public policies must address both the structural causes of energy vulnerability and crisis situations that can quickly affect households, in the context of energy market shocks.