The Romanian diaspora is the ethnically Romanian population outside Romania and Moldova. The concept does not usually include the ethnic Romanians who live as natives in nearby states, chiefly those Romanians who live in Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Therefore, the number of all Romanians abroad is estimated at 4–12 million people, depending on one's definition of the term "Romanian" as well as the inclusion respectively exclusion of ethnic Romanians living in nearby countries where they are indigenous. The definition of "who is a Romanian?" may range from rigorous conservative estimates based on self-identification and official statistics to estimates that include people of Romanian ancestry born in their respective countries as well as people born to various ethnic-minorities from Romania. As of 2015/16, over 97% of Romanian emigrants resided in OECD countries; and about 90% of Romanian emigrants in OECD countries lived in Europe, with the most common country of residence being Italy. The vast majority of Romanian emigrants are based in just ten countries, with the most common countries being Italy, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Hungary, France and Canada.
Over one million Romanians live in Italy. Large Romanian populations exist in Spain, the UK and Germany, with the latter including many Germans of Romania.
After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, emigration was liberalized and during the 1990s the main destination countries for Romanian emigrants were Germany, Hungary, Israel, the United States and Canada. After further liberalization in 1999, 2002 and especially after Romania entered the European Union in 2007, Italy, Spain, the UK and other EU countries became major destinations.
Size of the Romanian diaspora
In 2006, the Romanian diaspora was estimated at 8 million people by then President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, most of them living in the Western Europe (esp. Italy, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Austria), North America (Canada and the United States), South America, and Australia. Nonetheless, it is unclear if Băsescu included the indigenous Romanians living in the immediate surroundings of the Romanian state, which are those in Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine.
In December 2013, Cristian David, the government minister for the Department for Romanians Everywhere, declared that a new reality illustrates that between 6–8 million Romanians live outside Romania's borders. This includes 2–3 million indigenous Romanians living in neighbouring states such as Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Balkans and especially the Republic of Moldova. The number also includes circa 2.7–3.5 million Romanians in Western Europe.
Furthermore, the Romanian diaspora emerged as a powerful political force in elections since 2009. For the 2014 presidential election, voting in the diaspora was poorly organized and resulted in protests in several major European cities. The diaspora vote played a key role in the final result. 5 years later, in the 2019 presidential election, then center-right candidate and incumbent President Klaus Iohannis was once again overwhelmingly voted for by Romanian diaspora from all over the world.
Below is a list of self-declared ethnic Romanians in the countries where they live, excluding those who live in Romania and Moldova but including those who live in Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary, and Bulgaria.
The numbers are based on official statistical data in the respective states where such Romanians reside or – wherever such data is unavailable – based on official estimates made by the Romanian department for Romanians abroad (figures for Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Portugal, and Turkey are for Romanian citizens, and may include individuals of any ethnicity).
Ethnic Romanians are primarily present in Europe and North America. However, there are ethnic Romanian enclaves in Turkey, both in the Asian and European parts of the country, who are descendants of Wallachian settlers invited by the Ottoman Empire from the early fourteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. Furthermore, there are about 2,000 Romanian immigrants in Japan since the late twentieth century.
Distribution by country
Country Year Population Origin, notes 2023 1,053,042 Citizens 2023 909,795 Romanian citizens (as of 2023). 1,146,000 people with Romanian ancestry (as of 2023). The figures include Romanian-Germans. Citizens 2022/2023 620,463 (Romanian citizens, as of January 2024) 539,418 (residents of Spain who were born in Romania as of 2022) Immigrants and Romanian citizens of all ethnic groups. The first number includes all Romanians in Spain, thus taking into account second and third generation Romanians or nationalized ones that count as Spanish in the census. The second number takes into account just Romanian citizens. The third number represents Romanian born residents in Spain. 2021 538,840 citizens in England and Wales were born in Romania in 2021; additional Romanians in Scotland (12.102 as of 2022) and Northern Ireland (9.000 as of 2021); there are also naturalized second and third generation Romanians in the UK Immigrants (additional 12,000 Moldovans) United States 2023 According to the 2023 American Community Survey, 425,738 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, for example, the Romanian-American Network supplies a rough estimate of 1.2 million who are fully or partially of Romanian ethnicity. There is also a significant number of people of Romanian Jewish ancestry, estimated at 225,000. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 160,205 people born in Romania. Immigrants 2021 215,885 (ancestry) 86,770 (born in Romania). According to the 2021 Census, there were 215,885 Canadian residents declaring themselves of Romanian origin; Romanian language was the mother tongue of 93,160 of Canadian residents. There were 86,770 Canadian residents who were born in Romania. 2025 155,700 Citizens 2001 150,989 Indigenous to Zakarpattia Oblast, Odesa Oblast, and Chernivtsi Oblast 2019 133,000 Immigrants 2020 105,358 Immigrants 2020 86,200 Immigrants (mostly Romanian Jews) 2022 48,563 Immigrants 2020 44,600 Immigrants . There are also 209,000 Aromanians and 3,000 Megleno-Romanians in Greece; however, they are not considered an ethnic but a linguistic/cultural minority. 2022 43,312 Immigrants 2022 42,460 Immigrants 2023 36,738 Immigrants 2011 30,924 Indigenous and immigrants 2022 27,299 Immigrants 2011 24,376 Immigrants 2023 23,393 There are 23,393 Romanian citizens in Portugal as of 2023. According to Eurostat as many as 7,000 Romanians have acquired Portuguese citizenship since 2008, thus are excluded from the number of Romanian nationals in Portugal. 2022 23,044 Indigenous to Vojvodina and the Timok Valley 2022 18,877 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents 2021 15,268 (by birth) 28,103 (by ancestry) According to ABS (2021 census) figures, there are 15,268 people in Australia who were born in Romania and 28,103 people with Romanian ancestry in Australia.Population by ancestry (Australia), 2021 Australian census 2018 14,684 Immigrants 2009 14,666 Displaced and deported during World War II 14,000 Immigrants 10,000 Immigrants 2017 8,474 Immigrants 7,393 Immigrants and Brazilians with Romanian ancestry 6,444 Immigrants 2021 5,628 Immigrants 2019 5,209 Immigrants 4,000 Immigrants 2010 3,201 Immigrants/displaced during World War II 3,000 Immigrants 2022 2,505 Immigrants 2,000 Immigrants 2018 1,485 Immigrants 1,320 Immigrants 2016 1,262 Immigrants 1,000 Immigrants 1,000 Immigrants 2011 891 Indigenous to Vidin Province and parts of northern Bulgaria 850 Immigrants 696 Immigrants 634 Immigrants 600 Immigrants 485 Immigrants 400 Immigrants 400 Immigrants 398 Immigrants 2021 392 Romanian citizens living in Argentina. Additional people in Argentina with Romanian ancestry, including Romanian Jews and Romanian Roma. Citizens and decedents 382 Immigrants 350 Immigrants 2018 283 Immigrants 250 Immigrants 2019 209 Immigrants 200 Immigrants 174 Immigrants 155 Immigrants 2020 150 Immigrants 106 Immigrants 100 Immigrants 100 Immigrants 100 Immigrants 2011 77 Immigrants 75 Immigrants 2011 63 Immigrants 30 Immigrants 15 Immigrants There live up to 300,000 indigenous Aromanians, but Albanian authorities do not recognize them as Romanian minority. Total 4,321,496 The estimate is the sum of the countrywide estimates listed. To this are added 1,618,650 people belonging to ethnic groups Romanian authorities claim to be part of the Romanian population (e.g., Moldovans, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians). The total estimate is roughly 5.9 million.
Politics 2025 Romanian presidential election
Results by county County George Simion Nicușor Dan Crin Antonescu Victor Ponta Elena Lasconi Lavinia Șandru Daniel Funeriu Cristian Terheș colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %Diaspora587,19060.79%247,38825.61%65,2706.76%23,1882.40%31,5083.26%2,3470.24%3,2410.34%2,9560.31%1,1590.12%1,0090.10%7500.08% Total3,862,76140.96%1,979,76720.99%1,892,93020.07%1,230,16413.04%252,7212.68%60,6820.64%49,6040.53%36,4450.39%25,9940.28%22,0200.23%17,1860.18% Source: Permanent Electoral Authority Results by county County Nicușor Dan George Simion colspan="2" Votes % Votes %Diaspora720,99644.14%912,55355.86% Total6,168,64253.60%5,339,05346.40% Source: Permanent Electoral Authority
2024 Romanian presidential election
First round results by county County Georgescu Lasconi Ciolacu Simion Ciucă Geoană Kelemen Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Diaspora345,92543.35%214,03326.82%22,8932.87%96,33912.07%36,9344.63%38,9664.88%4,7380.59% Total 2,120,401 22.94% 1,772,500 19.18% 1,769,760 19.15% 1,281,325 13.86% 811,952 8.79% 583,898 6.32% 416,353 4.50% Source: Permanent Electoral Authority
2019 Romanian presidential election
County Iohannis(PNL) Dăncilă(PSD) Barna(USR-PLUS) Diaconu(PRO-ALDE) Paleologu(PMP) Kelemen(UDMR) Bruynseels(PPU) Cumpănașu(Ind.) Cataramă(DL) Stanoevici(Ind.) Ivan(ADN) Peia(PNeR) Popescu(PNR) Banu(PNRo) Abroad 2.68% 28.10% 3.61% 6.42% 0.51% 1.70% 2.43% 0.31% 0.42% 0.36% 0.39% 0.30%Source: HotNews County Iohannis(PNL) Dăncilă(PSD) Abroad 6.00%Source: HotNews
2014 Romanian presidential election
County Ponta(PSD) Iohannis(ACL) Tăriceanu(Ind.) Udrea(PMP) Macovei(Ind.) Kelemen(UDMR)Overseas voters 15.89% 2.95% 9.78% 15.2% <1%Sources: Știrile Pro TV, Știrile Pro TV County Ponta(PSD) Iohannis(ACL)Overseas voters 10.26% Sources: HotNews.ro, Gândul
See also Aromanian diaspora Moldovan diaspora
References
External links 1. Păstrarea identității culturale românești în diaspora: un ghid practic