Traditionally the leading products of this sector were processed foods, textiles and clothing, and furniture. In the 1980s, food-processing plants produced about 13 percent of total industrial output, and processed foods were a major source of foreign currency earnings. The trend of the 1980s was to locate such plants in agro-industrial centers near the source of agricultural products in order to reduce transport losses and streamline processing. Textiles and clothing accounted for about 12 percent of industrial output in the early 1980s, but much of this production was exported. A severe shortage of all items of apparel persisted within Romania throughout the 1980s. After 1981 the government stopped publishing production statistics for cotton and wool clothing, knitwear, underwear, hosiery, footwear, and similar items.

Furniture, especially wood furniture, had long been a major export product. In 1980, for example, Romania claimed to be the world's sixth largest furniture exporter. Important furnituremaking centers were Tîrgu Mures, Iasi, Tîrgu Jiu, Arad, and Oradea.

Data as of July 1989