The seven mandatory private pension funds (Pillar 2) achieved an average return of 19.2% in 2025,
the best annual result in the system's almost 18-year history, with net assets under management exceeding 200 billion lei at the end of 2025, according to data from the Association for Privately Administered Pensions in Romania (APAPR).
The amounts accumulated in Pillar 2 reached 10.5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product at the end of 2025.
"Net assets, i.e. the money managed by pension funds for the benefit of Romanians, reached 201.6 billion lei (39.5 billion euros) at the end of 2025, also a historical high for the system, up by over 33% compared to the end of 2024. The record results in 2025 came against the backdrop of the robust growth in the value of companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (where Pillar 2 funds invest about a quarter of the money managed), as well as the improvement in the quotations of Romanian government securities (where Pillar 2 invests almost two-thirds of the money). These developments reflect the confidence of markets and investors in Romania's long-term economic and financial potential," reads an APAPR press release issued to AGERPRES.
As many as 8.4 million Romanians are enrolled in Pillar 2, that is, the majority of the country's active population. More than half (about 4.6 million) regularly contribute, month after month, 4.75% of their gross income, as part of the social insurance contribution of 25%. The money in Pillar 2 is the second most valuable financial asset of the population, after bank deposits, as well as the only source of long-term savings for Romanians, especially those with low incomes, the press release states.
According to APAPR representatives, about 94% of the money in Pillar 2 is invested in Romania, making private pension funds the most important domestic institutional investors. In this way, Pillar 2 supports the financing of public debt (especially long-term), access to capital for Romanian companies listed on the Stock Exchange, and thus economic growth and job creation.
Romanians are increasingly digitally connected to their personal Pillar 2 private pension account. Thus, at the end of 2025, over 1.5 million participants had an online account opened on the administrator's portal, so that they could check their accumulated value, contribution history and other details of interest at any time.
During 2025, over 1 million Romanians accessed pilonul2.ro to find out which Pillar 2 pension fund they contribute to, to open an online account with the fund administrator or to obtain information about the private pension system.
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