Moldova’s real wages rise 2.3% in a year, statistics show

NBS: real wages rose by 2.3% over the year

The National Bureau of Statistics recorded a 2.3 per cent year-on-year increase in real wages in the second quarter, adjusted for the consumer price index (inflation). Compared with the first quarter of this year, average earnings rose by approximately 6 per cent.

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The average monthly gross salary in the country has reached nearly 17,000 lei, showing a nominal increase of 9% over the year.

Salaries in Moldova remain extremely uneven depending on the economic sector. The top three highest-paying sectors are:

IT and telecoms: leading the way with over 41,000 lei per month (almost 2.5 times higher than the national average).
Finance and insurance: the average income exceeded 31,400 lei.
The energy sector: rounds off the top three with a figure of nearly 24,700 lei.

Earnings in Moldova’s real (private) sector remain consistently higher than in the public sector. NBS statistics show a significant gap in both nominal figures and income growth rates.

Whilst the average gross salary in the private sector exceeded 16,900 lei, the average for public sector employees stands at just over 13,200 lei.

Consequently, employees of commercial enterprises and private businesses earn on average 22–28 per cent more than civil servants, teachers or doctors.

Income trends

The gap between the sectors continues to widen due to differing rates of wage growth. In the real sector, annual wage growth exceeded 11 per cent (in real terms, adjusted for inflation, net growth stood at +5.9 per cent).

In the public sector, nominal growth amounted to only around 3.7–4 per cent. Owing to rising prices, the purchasing power of public sector workers has actually fallen by 1.5 per cent over the past year.

In addition to these lines of income inequality between the private sector and public sector employees, the NBS highlights two further significant gaps: gender and geographical. Women in Moldova earn on average 15.4 per cent less than men (around 14,300 lei compared with 16,900 lei). The widest gap – up to 36 per cent – is observed in the IT and financial sectors.

Chișinău remains the only region in the country where the average salary consistently exceeds the national average. In the regions, earnings are significantly lower.

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