Romania factoring market reaches €5.08bn as insolvencies hit eight-year high

Romania’s factoring market reached €5.08bn in the first half of 2026, holding broadly firm despite a contracting economy and a rise in insolvencies to their highest first-half level in eight years.

Data from the Romanian Factoring Association’s Ipsos study shows factoring volumes increased 3.9 per cent from €4.89bn in H1 2025. Adjusting for depreciation of the Romanian leu against the euro lifts the increase to around 6.6 per cent, although ARF said volumes were marginally lower in real terms with annual inflation running at around 10 per cent. Romania’s GDP contracted by 0.7 per cent over the same period.

The stronger signal came from usage rather than headline volume. The number of active factoring clients rose 19.2 per cent, while client-debtor relationships increased 45.6 per cent. The average number of debtors financed per client climbed from 2.45 to 2.99, suggesting businesses are applying factoring across a broader share of their receivables rather than using it only for a small number of counterparties.

Export factoring was a particular growth area, jumping 35.2 per cent to €625.5m while Romania’s goods exports increased only 3 per cent. Domestic factoring rose 0.8 per cent to €4.39bn, while import factoring fell 14.4 per cent to €61.7m.

Credit-risk indicators were more mixed. Average payment delay improved to 6.9 days from 8.0 days in H1 2025, but deteriorated from 6.4 days for full-year 2025. More significantly, the maximum reported delay has increased from 15 days in H1 2025 to 30 days at the end of 2025 and 35 days in H1 2026. Insolvency proceedings rose 12.4 per cent to 3,855 companies and sole traders, the highest first-half figure in eight years.

ARF expects Romania’s factoring market to reach around €10.6bn for full-year 2026, only about 1 per cent above the €10.5bn recorded in 2025, while client growth is expected to continue outpacing volume growth.