Many are surprised when they hear Transylvania’s GDP. In 2017, seven Tranyslvanian counties had a GDP growth above the national average, a recently released analysis by statistics site ErdélyStat shows. The best-performing counties were Temes/Timiș and Kolozs/Cluj accounting for 4.8% and 4.5% of the national GDP, followed by Brassó/Brașov with 3.3%. The region’s trailing countries were Beszterce-Naszód/Bistrița-Năsăud, Szilágy/Sălaj and Kovászna/Covasna with contributions of 1%, 0,8% and 0.7% to the national GDP.
The 17 Transylvania counties together accounted for 32.4% of the national GDP, while their population is 34% of the total.
Romanian nominal GDP rose by 12.6% year-on-year in 2017 to $211.8 billion while GDP growth in Transylvania in the same year was slightly higher at 13.3%. In the ten years since Romania joined the European Union in 2007, GDP per capita rose from EUR 6,159 ($7,000 ) to EUR 9,565 ($10,889).
The Transylvanian counties with the highest GDP growth in Romania in 2017 were Fehér/Alba, Szeben/Sibiu and Máramaros/Maramureș, with growth rates of 16.6%, 9.1% and 8.5% respectively, compared with the national average of 6.9%.
