The turnover of nursing homes in Romania has increased 45 times over the past 15 years. Statistics show that the business of companies owning centers for the elderly and for people who cannot take care of themselves exceeded 200 million lei last year and could exceed 600 million lei in the next five years, according to analysis Frame companies. In 2008, the business with nursing homes did not exceed 4.61 million lei.

The analysis was published in the context of a scandal of incredible abuse at three centers in Voluntary and Afumak, where elderly and disabled patients were subjected to incredible abuse, beaten, starved, forced to work, kept with wounds to the bone or according to DIICOT survey data.

One of the businesses with the greatest potential in Romania

The analysis of consulting firm Frames on the business of companies with CAEN code 8730 – activities of nursing homes and homes for people who are unable to care for themselves – shows that they have come to represent one of the businesses with the greatest potential in Romania.

Against the backdrop of an aging population, it may triple its turnover in the coming years, in the context of which more than 1.7 million Romanians, “decrets”, will retire.

Compared to 2021, the business of 223 active companies increased by more than 50 million lei, from 156.6 million lei in 2021 to 206 million lei in 2022. In 2008, the business with nursing homes did not exceed 4.61 million lei.

And the profitability of companies has increased impressively, according to Frames analysis – from 31 million lei in 2021 to 45.7 million lei in 2022. Ten years ago, nursing homes did not register a profit of more than 1 million lei.

Impressive earnings with just over 1,600 employees

The impressive gains recorded by nursing homes were achieved with just 1,619 employees in 2022, up 300 from the previous year, according to the analysis.

Statistics show that the majority of companies (170) have less than 10 employees, with an average of 3 employees per company.

• “Opening a nursing home or even a chain of care centers for the elderly has become, as we estimated in the Frames analysis, the business of the future.
• The accelerated aging of the population and the lack of a system of social assistance at home forces more and more elderly people to become clients of these homes.
• According to official statistics related to the aging of the population, a huge wave of retirements in the next 7-8 years, we expect this type of business to become one of the most profitable in Romania, given that the state does not provide an alternative – public nursing homes , able to host a large number of beneficiaries free of charge.
• The Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Family should urgently develop a national strategy in this area aimed at building public nursing homes with European funds,” says Adrian Negrescu, Frames manager.

In 2010, there were 32 orphanages in Romania. Now there are 228 of them

Investors have sensed the potential of this business, as evidenced by the fact that the number of companies with CAEN code 8730 has increased from 32 in 2010 to 228 in 2022.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance and the Trade Register, the leading companies in terms of turnover are Assertivo Premium SRL from Bucharest with a business of 7.7 million lei in 2022 and a net profit of 1.7 million lei.

In second place is Corsica Obiect SRL from Bucharest with a business of 5.61 million lei and an even bigger profit of 1.99 million lei.

Miraflor SRL Bucharest (5.48 million turnovers), Lukby by BLS SRL (4.69 million lei), Căminul Stejarul SRL (4.11 million lei), Geronto Life Med SRL (4.04 million lei), Casa Primitore SRL (3.87 million lei), Enrom Management MT SRL (3.79 million lei), Care Center Sf. Maria SRL (3.76 million lei) and Revera Independent SRL (3.63 million lei)

The most prominent companies are located in Bucharest (48), Ilfov (41), Timișoara (22), Arges (21) and Constanta (14 companies).

“Time bomb”

Every year, the population of Romania is getting older and sicker. According to the data of the National Institute of Statistics, the elderly population of our country exceeded the youth under the age of 14 by more than 20%, and the prospects for the coming years indicate the strengthening of this phenomenon, reminds V. Personnel analysis.

Thus, the number of elderly people over 65 years old exceeded 3.8 million people (17.5% of the total number), and children – only 3.19 million people (14.5%).

Currently, the largest share of the total population is occupied by the age group of 50-54 years (8.9%), who will retire in 10-15 years.

“The decrees are a real time bomb for the pension and social assistance system in Romania. At the moment, I don’t see how the state will be able to solve this big problem, given that it does not offer effective measures to stimulate the birth rate, increase the number of jobs, etc., says Adrian Negrescu.

Currently, the life expectancy of the elderly in Romania is one of the lowest in Europe.