The number of small parcels coming from outside the European Union and delivered in Romania has plummeted in recent months, with the decline accelerating significantly after the entry into force, on July 1, of the new European customs duty.
In August, only about 695,000 extra-community parcels worth less than 150 euros entered Romania, a decrease of 72% compared to March, when a peak of over 2.5 million parcels was reached, according to data from ANAF provided upon request by CursDeGuvernare.ro.
The data shows that the flow had already started to decrease in April, but the decline intensified significantly with the introduction of the European tax:
- In June, the last month before the new tax was applied, 1.74 million parcels entered Romania;
- In July, their number dropped to only 953,366, a decrease of 45.2% in just one month;
- In August, only 694,937 parcels were delivered, a further 27.1% decrease compared to July;
- Compared to the level in June, the number of parcels in August is 60% lower, and compared to the peak recorded in March, of 2.51 million, the decline reaches 72.3%, according to ANAF data.
From 2.5 million parcels in March to less than 700,000 in August
The monthly evolution of extra-community parcels worth up to 150 euros, according to ANAF:
- January – 1,956,809 parcels;
- February – 2,208,844;
- March – 2,506,739;
- April – 2,392,778;
- May – 2,025,761;
- June – 1,740,319;
- July – 953,366;
- August – 694,937
In total, in the first eight months of the year, 14.48 million parcels entered Romania to which the national logistic tax of 25 lei was applied.
The first six months accounted for over 12.8 million parcels, an average of about 2.14 million per month. In July and August, the monthly average dropped to only about 824,000 parcels, over 61% below the first semester's average.
The decline is even more noticeable as, in the first quarter, the number of parcels increased each month: from 1.96 million in January to 2.21 million in February and 2.51 million in March. In the first three months of the year, 6.67 million extra-community parcels worth less than 150 euros were delivered to Romania.
More than 90% of these originated from China, according to customs data, with the flow being dominated by orders placed through platforms like Temu, Shein, AliExpress, or Trendyol.
The decline accelerated after the European tax introduced on July 1
Although the downward trend had become visible as early as April, the moment of acceleration of the trend was in July, when a fixed customs duty of 3 euros was applied at the EU level for parcels worth less than 150 euros from outside the EU. The tax is calculated for each tariff category of products in the parcel, not for each parcel or item individually. Thus, an order containing multiple products from different categories may incur the tax multiple times.
Starting from January 1, 2026, Romania already had its own logistic tax of 25 lei for each extra-community parcel worth less than 150 euros, introduced by Law 239/2025. The tax is collected and transferred to the budget by postal and courier service providers.
Therefore, low-value orders intended for Romanian consumers are now taxed both through the national logistic tax and the new European customs duty.
The impact of the new tax is also evident at the European level. Data from the French customs administration presented by the Minister of Economy, Roland Lescure, showed a 30%-40% reduction in imports of small parcels in the EU after the introduction of the tax in July.
In 2025, nearly 5.9 billion small parcels entered the European Union, equivalent to over 180 parcels per second and about four times more than in 2022. Approximately 93% originated from China.
State revenues from the "Temu/Shein tax" plummeted at the same rate
The reduction in the number of parcels is directly reflected in the budget revenues from the 25 lei logistic tax.
After peaking at 62.67 million lei in March, monthly revenues dropped to only 17.37 million lei in August, a decrease of over 72%.
According to ANAF, revenues evolved as follows:
- January – 48.92 million lei;
- February – 55.22 million lei;
- March – 62.67 million lei;
- April – 59.82 million lei;
- May – 50.64 million lei;
- June – 43.51 million lei;
- July – 23.83 million lei;
- August – 17.37 million lei.
In total, the state collected approximately 362 million lei from this tax in the first eight months of the year.
Read the full analysis Decline of cheap parcels from China after the introduction of the European tax: In Romania, the number of deliveries and budget revenues decreased by 72% - Situation by month on Curs de Guvernare