World Factbook
Moldova
Republica Moldova
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
note
note: data represent mother tongue; as of March 2023, "Romanian" replaced "Moldovan" as the name of Moldova's official language
Languages
Moldovan/Romanian 80.2% (official) (56.7% Moldovan; 23.5% Romanian), Russian 9.7%, Gagauz 4.2% (a Turkish language), Ukrainian 3.9%, Bulgarian 1.5%, Romani 0.3%, other 0.2% (2014)
major-language sample(s)
Cartea informativa a lumii, sursa indispensabila pentru informatii de baza. (Moldovan/Romanian) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Orthodox 90.1%, other Christian 2.6%, other 0.1%, agnostic <0.1%, atheist 0.2%, unspecified 6.9% (2014 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.94 male(s)/female
total population
0.89 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.62 male(s)/female
Birth rate
8.35 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
14.06 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
38.6 years
total
40.4 years (2025 est.)
female
41.3 years
Population
male
1,687,496
total
3,578,930 (2025 est.)
female
1,891,434
Nationality
noun
Moldovan(s)
adjective
Moldovan
Tobacco use
male
54.2% (2025 est.)
total
28.7% (2025 est.)
female
6.4% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
43.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.09% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
14.8% (male 266,493/female 266,166)
15-64 years
70.2% (male 1,225,535/female 1,300,640)
65 years and over
15% (2024 est.) (male 206,221/female 334,473)
Ethnic groups
Moldovan 75.1%, Romanian 7%, Ukrainian 6.6%, Gagauz 4.6%, Russian 4.1%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other 0.8% (2014 est.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
43 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
20.8 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
4.5 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
22.2 (2025 est.)
Physician density
4.02 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
7.8% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
12.3% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
5.7 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.27 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 87.7% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 92% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 97.7% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 12.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 2.3% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
6.6% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
16% national budget (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
16 deaths/1,000 live births
total
13.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
11.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
-0.57% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.61 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
pockets of agglomeration exist throughout the country, with the largest in the center of the country around the capital of Chisinau, followed by Tiraspol and Balti
Life expectancy at birth
male
66.1 years
female
74.4 years
total population
70.1 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
19 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 82.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 89.7% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 98.7% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 17.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 10.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 1.3% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
1.53 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
3.57 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
7.45 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
2.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
488,000 CHISINAU (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
18.9% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
25.2 years (2019 est.)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
68.7% (2020 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
15 years (2023 est.)
total
15 years (2023 est.)
female
15 years (2023 est.)