Industrial development received about half of all investment during the 1951–80 period. As officially measured, the average annual growth rate in gross industrial production between 1950 and 1980 was 12.3%, one of the highest in Eastern Europe. In 1993, however, industrial production was at only 47% of the 1989 level. The next year, industrial production increased by3.3%. In 1995, it increased by 9.4% in absolute volume and was 13% higher than the 1992 output. In 1996, industrial production increased by 9.9% with the largest increases coming in the processing industry (+12.5%) and machine and electronics (+27.3%). After the Russian collapse of 1997, however, the industrial growth rate for 1998 was -17%. Industrial production picked up after Romania began to recover from its recession in 2000, and in 2001, the industrial growth rate was 6.5%.
Although industry continues to be a large sector of the economy (30% of GDP in 2000), it is outmoded and in need of serious modernization and restructuring. Key industries in 2002 included textiles and footwear, light machinery and automobile assembly, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, and petroleum refining. Romania produced 68,761 automobiles in 2001, a 12% decrease from 2000. It produced 759 heavy trucks in 2000, a 13% decrease from 1999. The country had 10 oil refineries in 2002, with a capacity of 504,000 barrels per day.