Bucharest : Identification of the metropolitan area

The Bucharest-llfov region is the area with the highest population density in Romania, with a population of 2,272,163 inhabitants (according to the 2011 Census) and a density of 1,248 inhabitants per km².

• Bucharest has a total population of 1,883,425 inhabitants and a total area of 228 km², at a density of 8,260 inhabitants per km².
• Ilfov County has a total population of 388,738 people, which is equivalent to 1.9% of the population of Romania. In 2011, 43% of Ilfov residents lived in urban areas and 57% in rural areas. The average population density in the county is 245.6 inhabitants/km², which is much higher than the national average (84.4 inhabitants/km²).

Recent demographic estimations (Jan 2022) place the population of Bucharest at around 2,168,842 inhabitants and 488,410 inhabitants in Ilfov County, indicating an increase in the regional population and a migration of the urban population to the metropolitan area.

GDP per capita in Romania is growing steadily, with record values every year, although it is still significantly lower than the EU average. According to Eurostat, GDP per capita in the Bucharest-Ilfov region in 2020 was 160% of the EU average, indicating that the region is the strongest economic centre in Romania.