Women make up 53.6% of Moldova's population: they live longer than men but earn less
On International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8, the National Bureau of Statistics presented a statistical portrait of women and men in Moldova. According to the agency, as of January 1, 2025, women accounted for 53.6% of Moldova's permanent population, while men accounted for 46.4%. For every 100 women in the country, there are 87 men, and the older the age group, the higher the ratio in favor of women: in the 35-64 age group, there are 89 men for every 100 women. In the under-14 age group, there are 106 boys for every 100 girls. Life expectancy for women is 8.8 years higher than for men: in 2024, life expectancy for women was 76.4 years, and for men, 67.6 years. This gap is due to higher premature mortality rates among men, especially those of working age. At the same time, life expectancy for both men and women in rural areas is 2 years lower than in urban areas. The average age of women at first marriage in 2024 was 26.9 years, and for men, 29.9 years. On average, women marry for the first time between the ages of 20 and 24, while men marry between the ages of 25 and 29. Women aged 25-64 have a higher level of education than men of the same age: 28.1% of women have a higher education (men – 20.4%). Men drop out of school earlier than women in favor of entering the labor market. In higher education, women prefer the following general areas of study: education, social and behavioral sciences, public administration, philology, and arts. The employment rate among women is higher (51%) than among men, while women earn on average 16.6% less than men. Thus, the average monthly gross salary for women in 2024 was 12,787.8 lei, while for men it was 15,335.8 lei. The gender pay gap averaged 2,548 lei. The largest income gap between women and men is in the IT and financial sectors. The unemployment rate among women is higher than among men (4.01% versus 3.8%). At the same time, women are still underrepresented in management positions. In 2024, 55.2% of all managers at all levels were men, and 44.8% were women. At the same time, women are widely represented in the civil service: at the end of 2025, women accounted for 39.6% of Moldova's parliament. For comparison, this figure is 32.3% in the EU and 27.5% on average worldwide. At the same time, 26% of employees in Moldova's law enforcement agencies are women, while 49.8% of judges are women. In Chisinau, the majority of newly created enterprises were headed by men (63.6%), while women accounted for 36.4%. At the regional level, the highest share of enterprises headed by women was in the Southern region (38.3%). In 2024, the absolute poverty rate among women was 33.8%, and among men, 33.5%. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2025, 12,100 victims of crime were registered, of whom 45.9% were women. Last year, 843 people were victims of domestic violence, 69.4% of whom were women. According to data from the National Social Insurance Office, as of January 1, 2026, women accounted for 625% of the total number of pensioners (671,700). The average old-age pension for men was 5,013.9 lei, compared to 4,082.7 lei for women, and the average social benefit was 169.2 lei for women and 1,800.5 lei for men. // 06.03.2026 — InfoMarket
