A new report from ACORD UK and Bournemouth University finds that Romanians in Britain have become a major presence economically and in public service, contributing through work, tax, entrepreneurship, NHS and social-care roles and construction.
The report ntotes that adults born in Romania and Bulgaria had the highest employment and self-employment rate (80.4%) in England and Wales in the 2021 Census.
The latest nationality-specific HMRC fiscal release cited in the report estimates that Romanian nationals paid £2.399bn in income tax and national insurance contributions in one year alone. The report notes that this is likely to be a conservative picture, as it excludes VAT, council tax, employer national insurance contributions, business taxes and local spending. This is likely to have increased significantly as the latest HMRC figures show the average monthly pay of Romanians has risen by around 45% since then.
“Romanian migration to the UK was once discussed mainly through fear and stereotypes,” said Dr Alina Dolea, Head of the School of Law and Society at BU, who led the policy report. “The evidence now shows a very different story that is almost completely overlooked in the UK public discourse: a young, highly active community that works, pays taxes, builds businesses, staffs essential services and strengthens the UK-Romania relationship. The policy challenge is to recognise this largely unseen contribution and remove barriers that stop Romanian skills and entrepreneurship from being fully used for economic growth.”
Dr Dolea and her colleagues at the Advisory Council on Romanian Diaspora in the United Kingdom (ACORD UK) drew on their previous research, used Freedom of Information requests and analysed public records to paint a thorough picture of the wide range of roles Romanian people play in UK society.
Romanians are the most economically active migrant group in the UK. Despite preconceptions that Romanians mostly work in manual labour and low-skilled roles, the report shows that Romanian entrepreneurs and business leaders are increasingly active in key UK growth sectors, including robotics, artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, energy, and research‑intensive start‑ups.
Nearly 80 percent of Romanian-born people in the UK are aged between twenty and forty-nine. With an ageing population across the UK, the report explains that this younger population is well placed to provide much needed skills across a wide range of sectors, including in health and social care and the NHS. Romanian nationality staff in the NHS have more than doubled from 3,098 in June 2016 to 6,575 in June 2025, ranking fifth among EU nationalities in NHS England and ninth among non-British nationalities overall, with a high concentration in nursing, midwifery and adult social care.
This labour-market contribution is reinforced by Romanian-born students in the UK, nearly three quarters of whom were in employment according to the 2021 Census.
Construction is another highly visible example. The report cites CITB analysis showing that Romania was the single largest foreign source of UK construction workers, supplying around 5% of the workforce nationally and around 19% in London.
“There is a powerful human story to be told about how Romanians across the UK are building, enriching and caring for Britain in ways that go beyond statistics and data and are often invisible. One way to understand the scale of this contribution is to ask what would happen if even 100,000 Romanian workers were suddenly absent from the UK economy. The impact would be felt across construction, healthcare, logistics, public services, local high streets and tax receipts,” Dr Dolea said.
Giles Portman, His Majesty’s Ambassador to Romania, said “Romanians throughout the United Kingdom strengthen ties between our two countries every day through their work, their communities and their cultural presence. They bring skills, energy and resilience, while enriching the social and cultural fabric of modern Britain. Now, for the first time, we have the evidence in hard data which allows us to prove and celebrate this.”
The report recommends better workforce and self-employment data, stronger recognition and deployment of Romanian skills and qualifications, targeted support for shortage sectors, stronger UK-Romania business links, and deeper engagement with Romanian community organisations.
Other key facts in the report:
- HMRC recorded a median monthly pay of £2,427 for Romanians - up by roughly 45% since 2019 - and close to the UK median monthly pay of £2,555.
- Romanian-specific HMRC payroll data separately recorded 349,700 payrolled employments held by Romanian nationals in December 2025.
- A third of Romanian adults in England and Wales are qualified to university degree level or higher, a substantial asset for the UK economy, highlighting the potential for further economic value creation by the Romanian diaspora.
- UK–Romania trade reached £10.3bn in the four quarters to Q4 2025, having nearly doubled over the last decade, and UK exports to Romania alone support an estimated 23,500 UK jobs.
- Census 2021 shows Romanians are the fourth largest foreign-born community in the UK, while Romanian is the most spoken foreign language in London and second foreign language after Polish in England and Wales.
