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Trade: Romania one of last European countries for commercial area density
Romania is one of the last European countries in point of commercial area density, with 104 square metres per 1,000 inhabitants, while Norway has the highest value, 921 sq.m, according to a specialised report.
Romania had, by the end of the first semester, 2017, a modern retail stock of 3.56 million square metres. Commercial centres represent 57% of the total volume, with about 2.05 million sq.m. The rest is divided between retail parks (34%) and commercial galleries (9%).
The total stock of commercial centres in Europe grew by 2.9% over semester 1, 2016 and semester 1, 2017, reaching 160.8 million sq.m by the end of June, 2017, according to the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox report. Although, Western Europe represents 68% of overall stock of commercial centres, the development activity in the first half of the year was dominated by Central and Eastern Europe, 825,000 sq.m of commercial areas being delivered. Western Europe recorded deliveries of 344,000 sq.m in semester 1, 2017.
Commercial centre deliveries in the first half of the year amounted to 1.2 million sq.m, representing a drop of 11% compared to the same period of the previous year. With 566,000 sq.m completed, Turkey was the most active, representing 48% of total deliveries, followed by Russia with 186,000 sq.m and Italy with 107,000 sq.m.
For the time being, 6.8 million sq.m. of modern commercial centres under construction will be commissioned in the next 18 months. Compared to the same period of 2016, the volume is 16% lower. Of the total volume planned for commissioning, 4.1 million sq.m are in Central and Eastern Europe.
As for the density of commercial centres per 1,000 inhabitants, Norway has the highest value - 921 sq.m, being followed by Estonia -656 sq.m and Luxembourg- 522 sq.m. At the opposite pole, the lowest density of commercial areas is recorded in Greece, where there are 56 sq.m per 1,000 inhabitants.