Only 27.7% of Romanians had basic digital skills in 2023, below the EU average of 55.56%, according to the Digital Decade 2025 Country Report – Romania, conducted by the European Commission.

In Romania, the authorities responsible for building a digital skills framework for public servants are the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania, the National Agency of Civil Servants, and the National Institute of Administration. So far, data show that employed individuals do not receive enough resources to develop their digital skills, even though there is a strategy in place to improve the digital capabilities of public servants. 

As a result, large portion of the PNRR resources has been allocated to the digitalization of the public sector, and new initiatives such as the government cloud, ROeID, and the Single Digital Gateway could change the currently low levels of performance.

Romanians support such initiatives. The 2025 Eurobarometer shows that 67% of Romanians believe that accessing online public services will be important to their daily lives in 2030. Moreover, 79% of Romanians believe that public authorities should consider it important that people receive human support to help them adapt to the changes in their lives brought by digital technologies and services.

The report shows that there are marked differences in terms of gender, education, age, and environment when it comes to digital skills. The difference in digital skills between men and women is 2.59%, with men at 29.06% and women at 26.47%. This difference is considered “average,” but it is still above the European Union average, showing a small gap between the two genders.

Overall, approximately 64% of Romanians with higher education have basic digital skills, below the European average of 79.83%. The situation worsens among those with the lowest level of formal education, where only 12.58% have basic digital skills, compared to 33.61% in the EU.

Only 21% of rural residents in Romania have basic digital skills, nearly half the EU average for the same segment, indicating a significant gap in access to digital education and technological infrastructure.

In terms of age, the 16–24 group performs best in Romania, but only 47.19% of young people reach a minimum level of digital competence, compared to 69.98% in the EU. At the opposite end, only 6.17% of individuals aged 65 to 74 have basic digital skills, compared to the EU average of 28.19%.

The report highlights the need to integrate digitalization concepts into the education curriculum and training programs for teachers. Recently, the Romanian Ministry of Education announced its intention to train over 100,000 teachers and provide them with the necessary skills.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Kosal Hor/Dreamstime.com)

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