How much extra a commune with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants costs
A third of Romania's communes have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. The administrative cost per head is up to four times higher than in large localities.
The ROptimizaRE editorial team · 6 min read · updated 15 October 2026
In short
- 839 of Romania's 2,862 communes (29%) have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants and together are home to 1.2 million people[1]
- The median administrative cost per resident is 2,259 lei in communes with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 574 lei in communes with more than 10,000[2]
- These 839 small communes together spend almost 1.74 billion lei a year on general public services alone, excluding investments[2]
- Denmark solved a similar problem in 2007 by merging 271 municipalities into 98[3]
A third of communes fall below the 2,000-inhabitant threshold
Romania has 2,862 communes. Almost a third of them (839) have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, and 122 have fewer than 1,000[1]. Each has its own town hall, its own mayor, deputy mayor, secretary and accountant: an administrative apparatus that costs almost as much regardless of how many people it serves.
Why a small commune costs more per resident
Spending on “general public services” (chapter 50.02 of the budget execution: the town hall apparatus, the local council and other general services) has a large fixed component: whatever the population, a commune still needs a mayor, a secretary and an accountant. When the population falls, this fixed cost is divided among fewer and fewer people[2].
| Residents | Median cost (lei/resident) |
|---|---|
| under 1,000 | 2,259 |
| 1,000–1,999 | 1,268 |
| 2,000–2,999 | 941 |
| 3,000–4,999 | 778 |
| 5,000–9,999 | 646 |
| 10,000+ | 574 |
Big differences between neighbouring counties too
The cost varies not only with commune size but also with the county. Communes in Tulcea, Olt and Hunedoara have, on average, the highest administrative costs per resident in the country; those in Neamț, Botoșani and Galați the lowest, even though all operate under the same national rules[2].
What Denmark did
The 2007 reform: from 271 to 98 municipalities
In 2005 the Danish government set a minimum threshold of 20,000 inhabitants per municipality (with a recommended target of 30,000). Municipalities below the threshold had to either merge with their neighbours or enter a mandatory partnership that reached the threshold. The process was negotiated locally for a year, and the actual mergers took effect on 1 January 2007, reducing the number of municipalities from 271 to 98 [[sursa:dk-reforma-2007-brief]].[3]
A documented example, not a recommendation. Every country's context is different.
Sources
Primary official sources; where we use the press (only when the official document is not public) we mark it. The links lead to the original document or to the report cited (titles are translated; the documents themselves are in Romanian unless stated).
- [1]
Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration — Final population of Romania on 1 January 2024, by locality (in Romanian) (INS data republished on data.gov.ro, CC BY 4.0 licence)
Published 3 April 2026 · Accessed 15 October 2026 · the original document(opens in a new tab)
- [2]
Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration — Situation of the revenue and expenditure execution of local budgets by administrative-territorial unit, at 31.12.2024 (Annex no. 24) (in Romanian) (published on data.gov.ro, CC BY 4.0 licence)
Published 16 December 2025 · Accessed 15 October 2026 · the original document(opens in a new tab)
- [3]
Danish Ministry of the Interior and Health (Indenrigs- og Sundhedsministeriet) — The Local Government Reform – In Brief (the exact publication day (December 2005) is not stated in the document; the reform took effect on 1 January 2007)
Published 1 December 2005 · Accessed 15 October 2026 · the original document(opens in a new tab)
This is a translation of the Romanian article, which prevails. Source titles are translated for convenience; the documents themselves are in Romanian unless stated.