An 8.8-year gap in life expectancy
In 2025, life expectancy at birth in the Republic of Moldova was 72.8 years overall: 68.4 years for men and 77.2 years for women (NBS). The 8.8-year difference shows that the female longevity advantage has not narrowed as overall life expectancy has risen.
Over 2014–2025, both sexes gained years of life: men +3.1 years (from 65.3 to 68.4), women +3.5 years (from 73.7 to 77.2). Because women advanced faster, the gap widened by 0.4 years, from 8.4 years in 2014 to 8.8 years in 2025.
The series is not linear. In 2021, the year with the highest mortality rate of the period (17.5 per 1,000, NBS), life expectancy fell to 65.1 years for men and 72.9 years for women, and the gap narrowed temporarily to 7.8 years — the mortality shock hit both sexes. The peak for the period was recorded in 2023 (9.0 years).
The gap is more pronounced in rural areas. In 2025, rural men lived on average 67.4 years and rural women 76.6 years — a difference of 9.2 years. In urban areas, the difference was 8.4 years (69.7 against 78.1 years). In 2025, a rural man had 2.3 years less than an urban one, while the urban–rural difference among women was 1.5 years.
Life expectancy at birth, by sex, 2014–2025
View data table
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 65.3 | 73.7 |
| 2015 | 65.3 | 73.7 |
| 2016 | 65.7 | 74.2 |
| 2017 | 66.7 | 74.9 |
| 2018 | 66.3 | 75 |
| 2019 | 66.8 | 75.2 |
| 2020 | 66 | 73.9 |
| 2021 | 65.1 | 72.9 |
| 2022 | 67.1 | 75.7 |
| 2023 | 67.4 | 76.4 |
| 2024 | 67.6 | 76.4 |
| 2025 | 68.4 | 77.2 |
Excess male mortality is visible in the structure of the population
On 1 January 2026, the usually resident population stood at 2,365,645 people: 1,102,817 men (46.6%) and 1,262,828 women (53.4%), i.e. a surplus of 160,011 women (NBS). On 1 January 2015, the surplus was 109,633 people — over 11 years it has grown by 46% in absolute terms.
Expressed as a ratio, in 2015 there were 1,080 women per 1,000 men, and in 2026 — 1,145 (Socium calculation based on NBS data). The imbalance is driven both by higher male mortality and by the structure of migration, which the data available here do not separate out.
Between 2015 and 2026, the number of men fell by 265,530 (−19.4%) and the number of women by 215,152 (−14.6%). The total population decline was 480,682 people (−16.9%).
Counter-intuitively, the imbalance is greater in towns and cities: in 2026 there were roughly 1,200 women per 1,000 men in urban areas, against 1,099 in rural areas (Socium calculation based on NBS data). The mean age confirms the feminisation of the elderly population: 42.5 years for women against 38.8 years for men in 2026, with a maximum among rural women — 43.8 years.
Women per 1,000 men, usually resident population, 2015–2026
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| National total | |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,080.1 |
| 2016 | 1,077.7 |
| 2017 | 1,083.7 |
| 2018 | 1,091.8 |
| 2019 | 1,094.1 |
| 2020 | 1,094.5 |
| 2021 | 1,096 |
| 2022 | 1,105.6 |
| 2023 | 1,125.4 |
| 2024 | 1,114.7 |
| 2025 | 1,129.6 |
| 2026 | 1,145.1 |
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Request a proposalThe paradox: living longer, participating less
In 2025, the labour force participation rate of women aged 15–64 was 49.1%, against 55.8% for men — a difference of 6.7 percentage points (NBS). For the employment rate, the gap was 6.0 pp: 47.4% against 53.4%.
The problem is not unemployment but non-participation. The ILO unemployment rate for women (15–64) was 3.5% in 2025, lower than that for men (4.4%). By contrast, the female inactivity rate reached 50.9%, 6.7 pp above the male rate (44.2%). In practice, half of all working-age women were neither employed nor looking for work.
The wider context is one of contraction: the employment rate for those aged 15–64 nationwide fell from 52.3% in 2024 to 50.3% in 2025, while the inactivity rate rose from 45.4% to 47.7% (NBS).
Labour market indicators, aged 15–64, by sex, 2025
View data table
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Participation rate | 55.8 | 49.1 |
| Employment rate | 53.4 | 47.4 |
| Inactivity rate | 44.2 | 50.9 |
| ILO unemployment rate | 4.4 | 3.5 |
2024–2025: the gap closed, then reopened
The participation gap between men and women (15–64) stood at 7.0 pp in 2019, narrowed to 2.5 pp in 2024 — the lowest point in the available series — and widened again to 6.7 pp in 2025 (NBS).
The movement came almost entirely from the female side: women's participation rate fell from 53.4% in 2024 to 49.1% in 2025 (−4.3 pp), while the male rate remained practically unchanged (55.9% → 55.8%).
A swing of this magnitude within a single year, in a sample survey, must be treated with caution: it may reflect both genuine labour market changes and the effects of revising the population base after the census. The available data do not allow the two causes to be disentangled.
What the data do not show
The series on average gross monthly earnings — MDL 15,594.5 (EUR 796) in 2025, against MDL 4,089.7 (EUR 219.5) in 2014 — is not disaggregated by sex in the data used here. The size of the gender pay gap in Moldova therefore cannot be estimated from this source.
Likewise, absolute poverty indicators for 2025 are available only by area of residence (31.1% nationwide, 40.0% rural, 21.1% urban), and not by the sex of the household head — an important limitation, given that elderly women living alone are a key risk group.
Two technical caveats. First: between 2023 and 2024 the urban–rural structure of the population changes abruptly (the urban population rises from 1,071,709 to 1,118,345 people, the rural population falls from 1,420,569 to 1,297,204), which points to a revision of the database rather than internal migration on that scale. Second: the 2025 infant mortality rates by area (17.6 per 1,000 urban and 1.2 per 1,000 rural) depart radically from the previous series and should not be taken at face value without checking the registration methodology.
Data on marriage and divorce rates stop at 2024, when the marriage rate was 6.2 per 1,000 nationwide (7.7 urban, 4.8 rural), against 9.0 per 1,000 in 2014.
Implications for Moldova
First: a gap of 8.8 years in life expectancy, peaking at 9.2 years in rural areas, points to a concentration of health risks among the male population. The available data do not include cause-specific mortality, but the size of the difference indicates a priority area for screening and prevention programmes, particularly in rural areas.
Second: the largest untapped labour reserve is female inactivity — 50.9% of women aged 15–64 in 2025, against 44.2% of men. An employment strategy aimed solely at reducing unemployment (3.5% among women) addresses a marginal problem; care services, transport and flexible work arrangements are the more relevant levers.
Third: with 1,145 women per 1,000 men and a mean female age of 42.5 years (2026), the pension system and long-term care services will have a predominantly female, rural and elderly beneficiary base. Sizing them on the basis of whole-population averages underestimates this structure.
Fourth: the absence of sex-disaggregated data on wages and poverty indicators limits the evaluation of gender equality policies. Publication of these series by the NBS would make it possible to measure, rather than merely assume, the economic gaps between women and men.
Methodology
All figures are drawn from the statistical database of the National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova (NBS): life expectancy at birth by area of residence and sex; usually resident population as at 1 January, by sex and area; mean age of the population; vital statistics rates; labour market indicators (Labour Force Survey, age group 15–64 unless otherwise stated); absolute poverty indicators for 2025; average gross monthly earnings. The ratio of "women per 1,000 men" is a Socium calculation: the number of women divided by the number of men, multiplied by 1,000 (urban 2026: 1,199.8; rural 2026: 1,098.6 — rounded in the text to 1,200 and 1,099 respectively). Differences between rates are expressed in percentage points (pp), and those between life expectancies in years. Limitations: (1) between 2023 and 2024 the distribution of the population between urban and rural areas changes abruptly, indicating a post-census revision of the database — urban–rural comparisons spanning this threshold should be treated with caution; (2) labour market indicators come from a sample survey, and annual variations of several percentage points may also reflect reweighting revisions; (3) the 2025 infant mortality rates by area (17.6 per 1,000 urban, 1.2 per 1,000 rural) depart atypically from the historical series and were not used in the analysis; (4) the data contain no sex disaggregation of wages, poverty or cause-specific mortality, so the relationships described are associations rather than demonstrated causal links; (5) the analysis includes no international comparisons, as the sources used cover the Republic of Moldova alone.