Home to 19.5 million citizens, and the historic capital of Bucharest, Romania is a country with a turbulent history and dynamic culture. Famed for the River Danube, and the Carpathian Mountains, Romanian landscape is a sight to behold and attracts many millions of tourists each year.

The country’s official language is Romanian, which is spoken by 85% of the population. English and French are the main foreign languages taught in schools, and 31% of Romanians speak English to a good level.

The capital city, Bucharest, is home to 1.8 million residents, and is by far-and-away the largest city in Romania (the second largest city, Cluj-Napoca has a mere 324,000 inhabitants).

The country has a rich history of science and technological development, and its scientists have made great contributions to the worlds of cell biology, flight, and organic chemistry. Supporting its academic history is a successful manufacturing industry that, while having experienced ups and downs over the last century, attracts large amounts of foreign investment.

The country’s economic status has been turbulent over the last 100 years, however the country has consistently shown that it has the ability to quickly rebound from economic uncertainty. Despite this, Romanians are increasingly looking externally for jobs and prospects, as the country shifts its outlook towards growing international markets.

Romania is one of the world’s leaders in freelancer exports, and consistently ranks highly on freelance marketplaces like UpWork. In 2012, Romanian freelancers earned $5m, and ranked the third highest freelancer exporter in Europe (after Ukraine and the UK). Romanian freelancers typically specialise in IT and programming, graphic design, as well as customer support and services.

Top Skills

Romania has a good standard of education, and an adult literacy rate of 97.3% (which ranked it 45th in the world). Many Romanian higher education institutions, like the University of Bucharest and West University of Timișoara, rank inside the top 800 on the QS World University Rankings, and the country consistently wins medals in mathematical olympiads.

The country’s freelancers offer world-class services in IT and programming, graphic design, photography, web design, and social media management.

More than 90% of Romanian freelancer wages are earned through international clients, and the freelancers are well equipped at dealing with dynamic projects for clients across the world.

Freelancing is becoming increasingly popular in Romania, as local attitudes towards working from home change, and as talented graduates who want to stay in their home country, but seek challenging and rewarding opportunities, look online and overseas for work.

Income Range

The International Labour Organisation calculates Romania’s average wage at $954 per month, this is below countries like Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The average salary for a software engineer in Romania is $20,998 per year, however the country’s most talented freelancers can command a fee far higher than that.

Currency

The Romanian currency is the Romanian Leu

The current exchange rate is 1USD = 3.90 RON

Currency Exchange

Currency transfers can be made through online services like PayPal or Transferwise