In Moldova, women are more numerous, live longer, and earn less than men
Life expectancy at birth in 2024 was 76.4 years for women and 67.6 years for men. Thus, women on average live 8.8 years longer than men.
The average age at first marriage in 2024 for women was 26.9 years and 29.9 years for men. Marriages contracted before age 20 were more common in rural areas: 10.1% of marriages registered in rural areas were contracted by women under 20, compared to 3.6% of marriages among women of the same age in urban areas.
According to the Labor Force Survey, women aged 25-64 had a higher level of education than men of the same age. The largest difference in this age group was in tertiary education, with 28.1% of women achieving this level of education in 2024 compared to 20.4% of men.
In the 2025/26 school year, according to education statistics, boys made up about three quarters of the total number of students in skilled worker training programs in secondary vocational education (72.9%), while more than half of the students in master, technician and other specialist training programs in post-secondary vocational education were girls (52.9%).
In post-secondary vocational education, boys more often chose such fields as engineering, information and communication technologies, and dentistry. At the same time, girls more often preferred such fields as nursing and midwifery, social work and counseling, pedagogy, hairdressing and beauty services, secretarial and office work, medicine, textile production and processing.
Higher education, compared to post-secondary vocational education, was characterized by an even higher participation rate of women (58.2% of the total number of students in the academic year 2025/26).
According to the Labor Force Survey, women had a higher proportion of the employed population aged 15 years and older compared to men (51% of women and 49% of men in 2024). The gender gap in employment was 5.9 percentage points in 2024: the employment rate for females was 40% compared to 45.9% for males.
In 2024, women on average earned 16.6% less (unadjusted gender pay gap) than men (83.4% of men’s average earnings). In absolute terms, the gender pay gap averaged about MDL 2,548. Thus, the average gross monthly salary of women in 2024 amounted to 12,787.8 MDL, while for men it was 15,335.8 MDL.
In 2024, among managers at all levels, 55.2% were men and 44.8% were women.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics data on the demography of enterprises, in 2019-2023, managers of operating enterprises were predominantly male, with an average of 66.9%. Accordingly, the proportion of women among the managers of operating enterprises in 2023 was about one-third.
Male-headed households were more optimistic about living standards. Thus, 16.8% of male-headed households rated the standard of living as very good or good, compared to 11.8% of female-headed households.
In 2024, the absolute poverty rate for women was 33.8%, while for men it was 33.5%.
According to the Ministry of Interior, in 2025, the number of registered victims of crime amounted to 12,100. Men accounted for 54.1% of the total number of victims, compared to 45.9% of women.
Domestic violence crimes recorded in 2025 affected 843 people, of which 69.4% were women. Both female (54.9%) and male (48.8%) victims of domestic violence were predominantly between the ages of 35-64.
According to the National Social Insurance Fund, as of January 1, 2026, 62.5% of the total number of pensioners (671,700) were women. Depending on the category of pensioners, the proportion of women ranged from 75.9 per cent among survivors’ pensions, to 65.9 per cent among old-age pensioners and 54 per cent among disabled pensioners.
As of January 1, 2026, the average size of the pension for women as a whole amounted to MDL 4082.7, compared to MDL 5013.9 for men. The average size of the retirement pension for women amounted to MDL 4162, compared to MDL 4964.3 for men. At the same time, the average monthly amount of the state social payment for women amounted to 1694.2 lei, compared to 1800.5 lei for men.
