Manufacturing

The general pattern of development for wealthy nations was a transition from a primary industry based economy to a manufacturing based one, and then to a service based economy. Romania did not follow this pattern, manufacturing has always been secondary, though certainly not unimportant. In part because of this, Romania did not suffer as greatly from the pains of deindustrialization in the 1970s and 1980s. Manufacturers have been attracted to Romania due to the highly educated population with lower labour costs than the EU. Romania's government-run healthcare system is also an important attraction, as it exempts companies from the high health insurance costs they must pay in the EU.