Demographic Snapshot

Moldova's total population is estimated to be 4.2 million (in 2004). However, if the population of Transnistria – the Russian speaking break-away province located on the border with Ukraine – is excluded, this number drops to 3.6 million. Like Romania (to the west), the country's population is declining due to migration, low fertility rates and higher mortality. Between 1990 and 2003, birth rates dropped from 18 to 10 per 1,000 people. Over the same period, mortality increased from 10 deaths per 1000 people to 12 deaths per 1000.

These trends have profoundly altered the demographic profile of the country. Since 1990, the number of children under five years of age has declined by half, while the number of young people aged 10 to 24 has doubled, from 15 per cent of the population in 1990 to nearly 30 per cent in 2004.

Another demographic phenomena, not witnessed elsewhere, is the ‘ruralization' of the population. In 1990, half the population lived in urban areas. However, by 2003, the share of people living in towns and cities had dropped to just 39 per cent. Over this period, 171,000 people left the cities and headed back to the countryside. Most of these urban-rural migrants are retired people living on pensions or unemployed blue-collar workers unable to find jobs. Many supplement meager incomes by growing vegetables and fruits to sell in nearby towns and cities.

Both maternal and infant mortality have dropped since 1990. The maternal mortality ratio decreased from 52 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 33.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2002. Over the same period infant mortality rates fell from 19.0 deaths per 1000 live births to 14.7 deaths.

The abortion rate, though dropping dramatically, remains problematic. One third of all maternal deaths are attributed to unsafe abortion, while haemorrhage, sepsis and embolism account for the rest. Despite improvements in reproductive health care, two thirds of complicated pregnancies were not referred to the appropriate health authorities in time to avoid problems.

Contraceptive prevalence has been increasing steadily and now stands at 62 per cent of the reproductive age population (15-49). The most common method remains the IUD, but hormonal pills are becoming increasingly popular, especially in urban areas where they are more readily accessible.

Moldova has a low HIV prevalence, but infections are increasing most rapidly in heterosexual young people. As of the end of 2004, the number of HIV-positive people stood at 2,305. During the last decade the virus was confined mostly to intravenous drug users. However, between 2001 and 2004, heterosexual transmission increased from 20 to 55 per cent of known cases.