At the end and beginning of the year, the tech space inevitably fills up with “predictions”, “trends”, “statistics” and more or less well-founded opinions.
So we don’t sit this one out, I pulled various public statistics and trends about 2025 in the Romanian tech space. For each source, I tried to integrate it fully into the article wherever possible, to show transparently where the data came from.
How Romanians access the internet: mobile and desktop, almost neck and neck
If at the beginning of 2025 users preferred mobile, by the end of 2025, surprisingly I’d say, the desktop made a comeback and claimed first place in the preferences of users in Romania. In the end, the desktop isn’t as lost in front of smartphones as it might have seemed.
Operating systems
In terms of operating systems, 2025 started out similar to the Desktop vs Mobile stats above, with Android in first place. However, towards the end of the year, Windows took over the top spot.
Browsers: what users in Romania used in 2025
If there’s one area where the gap between the players in the ranking is the largest, it’s browsers. Google Chrome dominates, with a considerable lead over the competition in Romania, just like in the rest of the world.
Search engines
Another area where, in practice, we only have one real player, including for users in Romania. Will Google Search still be in the same comfortable position a year from now, as searches via AI grow?
Smartphone market
The favorite smartphones of Romanians throughout 2025 were those from Samsung and Apple, far ahead of the next manufacturer, Xiaomi.
AI assistants
AI can no longer be left out, that’s for sure, and when it comes to AI assistants, at the level of Romanian users in 2025 it seems that ChatGPT is turning into a sort of Google in terms of market share, far ahead of the competition.
Artificial intelligence: real-world adoption
Artificial intelligence is, without a doubt, one of the most talked-about topics of the year.
Data published at European Union (EU) level shows that in 2025, around 32.7% of users in the EU use, in one form or another, technologies based on generative AI. Romania, unfortunately, is at the bottom of the ranking: only 17.8% of Romanians have used such tools.
Digital connectivity
At the end of 2025, Romania reached a threshold that, a few years ago, seemed hard to imagine: 94% of the population uses the internet. We’re talking about roughly 17.7 million active users, in a country with a population of 18.9 million.
Mobile connections: more SIMs than people
One indicator that says a lot about the digital behavior of Romanians is the number of mobile connections. At the end of 2025, Romania had 25.5 million active mobile connections, i.e. 135% relative to the population.
This doesn’t mean Romanians “talk more on the phone”, but that:
- they use multiple SIMs per person (personal + work),
- they adopt eSIMs more easily,
- they connect more and more devices (phones, tablets, 4G/5G routers).
One important detail: 98.6% of these connections are broadband. In other words, the infrastructure is there. Still, the total number of mobile connections has slightly decreased compared to 2024, a sign that the telecom market has entered an optimization phase.
Source: GSMA Intelligence
Internet speed: Romania is doing well
If there’s one area where Romania continues to perform well, it’s internet speed.
At the end of 2025:
- Mobile internet: median speed of 74.88 Mbps, with an annual increase of almost 19%
- Fixed internet: median speed of 247.12 Mbps, up 23% compared to the previous year
These figures place Romania in a very competitive position at European level, especially for fixed internet. The simultaneous growth in both mobile and fixed shows that infrastructure investments haven’t stopped, even if the number of users has plateaued.
Source: Ookla
Social media: massive adoption
In October 2025, Romania had 12.9 million active social media identities, i.e. 68.3% of the population. Relative to internet users, almost 73% use at least one social media platform.
From a demographic perspective:
- the gender split is almost perfectly balanced,
- three quarters of Romanian adults (18+) are active on social media.
Source: DataReportal / Kepios
The dominant platforms in Romania
YouTube – the platform for all generations
YouTube reaches 12.9 million users, exactly at the level of the entire social media base. Practically, it’s the common platform for all generations, with coverage of over 70% of internet users.
Facebook – stability
Contrary to popular perception, Facebook isn’t “dying”:
- 10.3 million users
- over 67% of adults use it
- notable growth in the second half of 2025
Instagram – steady growth
Instagram reaches 6 million users, with an annual growth of over 8%. It’s one of the few major platforms that is actually adding users, especially in the 18–34 age segment.
TikTok – the platform with the strongest traction
TikTok surpasses 8.7 million adult users, with annual growth of 7.5%.
Far too much if you ask me, but it’s probably the most influential platform in Romania in 2025, whether we like it or not.
LinkedIn – the surprise of the year
With 5.3 million members, LinkedIn grows by almost 13% in a single year. Being a professional platform, that gives us some hope that not all is lost.
Reddit, Pinterest, X and Snapchat: atypical growth and niche platforms (Romania, end of 2025)
If YouTube / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok are “mainstream” platforms, in 2025 there’s also a group of platforms that either grow disproportionately in the stats or clearly remain niche.
Reddit – huge jump in numbers, but with a big “asterisk”
Reach data from advertising tools shows 3.40 million users in Romania at the end of 2025, the equivalent of 18.0% of the population.
More interesting (and statistically suspicious) is the reported jump compared to 2024: +2.20 million in a year, i.e. +183%. Quarter-on-quarter (July → October 2025) there’s another +600,000 (+21.4%).
These increases are so large that they need to be read with caution: since we’re talking about data from ad tools, they may reflect methodology changes, internal cleanups / adjustments, not necessarily a massive real-world user migration. Personally, I’d rather see Reddit’s numbers higher at the expense of TikTok, for example.
Pinterest – predominantly female audience
Pinterest reaches 3.48 million users in Romania at the end of 2025, i.e. 18.4% of the population (and 19.6% of the internet user base).
Year-on-year, the platform grows by +775,000 (+28.7%), and quarter-on-quarter (July → October 2025) by +665,000 (+23.6%).
The gender split is one of the most unbalanced among the major platforms: 70.5% women, 24.6% men, the rest “unspecified”.
X (formerly Twitter) – small, volatile, heavily male-skewed platform
X has 1.73 million users in Romania at the end of 2025, i.e. 9.2% of the population (and 9.8% of internet users).
The gender split is (in the image and likeness of its leader) extremely unbalanced: 76.3% men and 23.5% women.
Snapchat
Snapchat reaches 2.95 million users in Romania at the end of 2025, i.e. 15.6% of the population and 16.6% of internet users.
The annual growth is solid: +315,000 (+12.0%), and quarter-on-quarter +305,000 (+11.5%).
The gender split is relatively balanced for a social media platform: 54.9% women, 44.2% men (the rest “unknown”).
Messenger remains very large, but is declining
Facebook Messenger reaches 7.30 million users in Romania (38.7% of the population).
But year-on-year there’s a notable drop: -550,000 (-7.0%), and quarter-on-quarter (July → October 2025) the figure shows no growth.
All statistical data regarding Connectivity and Social Media was taken from the Romania Digital 2026 report, which you can read in full below:
Instead of a conclusion
I’d say I’ve already published Gadgetisimo’s own stats here last month, and my placement in the statistics above looks like this:
- Desktop vs mobile: almost equally, on a personal level
- Operating systems (in order): Windows, Android, macOS
- Browsers (in order): Chrome, Opera, Safari, Brave
- Search engines: Google, but with rapidly growing AI search
- Smartphone: at the bottom of the ranking, with Pixel
- AI: ChatGPT, Plus subscription in 90% of cases, Gemini Pro for the rest
- Mobile connections: 2 – personal + work
- Fixed / mobile internet: Digi
- Social media: LinkedIn and Reddit, everything else at 0
What are your “stats” for 2025?
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