The level of absolute poverty in Moldova at the end of 2019 amounted to 25.2%.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, the absolute poverty line on average per month per person was 2095.13 lei. According to statistics, the rural population is at a much higher risk of poverty than the urban population. The poverty rate in 2019 in rural areas was 34.5%, compared to 11.2% in Moldova’s cities. At the regional level, poverty is significantly higher in the southern region (40.4%) than in the Central Moldova (29.8%) as well as in the North of the country (27.7%); in Chisinau municipality the level of absolute poverty is significantly lower (4.4 %). Depending on the type of households, the lowest poverty rates were recorded in households with one member under the age of 60 and in households consisting of a married couple without children with the head of household under the age of 60 (13.0%). The highest poverty rate (38.1%) was recorded in households with one member aged 60 and over, as well as in households with 3 or more children. Poverty rates are lower in households with the main breadwinner having higher education. For example, in families in which the head of the household has a higher education, the poverty rate is on average 4.6%, incomplete secondary education - 43%, primary education - 78.3%. Vulnerable to poverty are households where the head of the household works in the agricultural sector (43.2%) or receives various social benefits, pensions, scholarships, etc. (46.2%), as well as households with the head of the household, self-employed in the agricultural sector (38.4%) or retired (38.3%). According to the NBS, the threshold of extreme poverty in 2019 was 1,689.7 lei per month per person, and the level of extreme poverty in Moldova was 10.7%. The NBS also presented a poverty index representing the average consumption deficit of the population required to overcome the poverty threshold: in 2019 it was 3.68%, which means that in order to overcome poverty while maintaining or reducing the current level of inequality, it is necessary to increase the consumption of the population on average by 3.68% of the absolute poverty line (2095.13 lei). // 12.01.2021 - InfoMarket.
