Moldova is gradually transitioning to a new demographic reality: one in four residents of the country is now over 60 years old. As of early 2026, there were 611,900 such people, or 25.9% of the population. As recently as early 2024, their share stood at 25.2%. The National Bureau of Statistics classifies the current figure as a high level of demographic aging.
This aging is occurring against the backdrop of an overall population decline. As of January 1, 2026, the resident population stood at 2.366 million people, having decreased by 22,900—or 1%—in just one year. Not only is the country's population size changing, but so is its age structure: the share of older generations is increasing, while the generations that are expected to enter the labor market are becoming smaller.
This is particularly noticeable among young people. As of early 2026, there were 517,300 people aged 14–34 living in Moldova, or 21.9% of the population. In the past year alone, their number fell by 13,500, or 2.5%.
A comparison of two censuses illustrates this long-term shift even more clearly. In 2014, people aged 65 and older accounted for 11.3% of the population, while according to the 2024 census, this figure had risen to 18.2%, or 437,200 people. At the same time, the share of the 15–24 and 25–64 age groups each decreased by 4.1 percentage points over the decade.
Migration remains one of the causes of population decline. In 2024, the net migration balance was minus 17,600 people. According to preliminary estimates by the National Bureau of Statistics, it also remained negative in 2025—at about 13,000 people. Natural population decline accounted for another 10,000 people.
The migration picture is complicated by the high mobility of Moldovan citizens. According to the final results of the 2024 census, 389,300 residents of Moldova—or 16.3% of the population with a permanent place of residence—reported holding citizenship of another country. Compared to the 2014 census, this share increased by 10.7 percentage points. In cities, one in five residents already held dual citizenship.
A second passport alone does not mean that a person is excluded from Moldovan migration statistics: the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) defines migration primarily based on actual border crossings and the duration of residence within or outside the country. However, holding a second citizenship—including that of an EU country—expands opportunities to live and work abroad and contributes to high population mobility.
The structure of the oldest age group is also changing. Over the past two years, the share of people aged 75–79 among the population aged 60 and older has risen from 8.9% to 12.2%, while the share of relatively young seniors (aged 60–64) has fallen from 30.8% to 28%.
This is significant for the economy, as it is precisely people aged 60–64 who account for the bulk of employment among older generations. In 2025, 85,800 people aged 60 and older were employed in Moldova—11.1% of the country's total workforce. Of these, 69.8% were aged 60–64, and another 20.8% were aged 65–69. After that, labor force participation drops sharply.
At the same time, the number of economically active people aged 60 and older decreased by 11.1% in 2025—from 98,200 to 87,300 people. This means that the ability to offset the decline in younger workers through longer employment among older generations is also limited.
As a result, population aging is becoming not only a social problem but also an economic one. Fewer people are entering the labor market, and the base of employed workers and taxpayers is shrinking, while the pension system, healthcare, and social support must serve a significant portion of the population.
As of early 2026, there were 671,700 pensioners in Moldova, including 530,200 recipients of old-age pensions. The average old-age pension was 4,435.6 lei. Herewith, 117,800 old-age pensioners, or 22.2%, received the minimum pension of 3,055.7 lei.
The extent of dependence on social transfers is particularly evident in the income structure. In households consisting solely of older adults, social payments accounted for 73.2% of total income, of which pensions made up 68.5%. Wages accounted for only 15.2%.
Nearly half of these households' consumer spending (49%) went toward food, with another 20.9% spent on housing and utilities. Health care accounted for 6.5%.
The burden on the healthcare system also increases with age. In 2025, people over 60 accounted for 75.2% of all newly diagnosed cases of malignant tumors—8,800 out of 11,700 registered nationwide. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in this age group—63.6 percent—while tumors account for another 16.7 percent.
The aging of the population also has a pronounced gender dimension. Women make up 60.3% of the country's residents aged 60 and older. For every 100 elderly women, there are 66 men, and among those aged 85 and older, the ratio drops to just 35. At age 60, a woman in Moldova can expect, on average, to live another 21 years, while a man can expect to live another 16 years.
The figure of 25.9% of the population aged 60 and older is not so much a statistic about the elderly as it is an indicator of the direction Moldova's economy is taking. The problem arises when the number of people entering the labor market falls below the number of those leaving it. An ever-smaller number of workers will have to not only pay taxes and support economic development, but also finance the pension system, healthcare, and social spending for an ever-growing share of the elderly population. Without an influx of workers, efforts to retain young people, increases in productivity, and an expansion of the tax base, population aging will increasingly limit Moldova's potential for economic development. // 05.10.2026 – InfoMarket.