poorness

The World Bank will provide technical support to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in measuring living standards. The planned assistance will focus on aspects related to the preparation and implementation of the next household income budget survey (EU-SILC) according to the EU methodology, Logos Press reported.

This year, the topic of the well-being of the country and its citizens is particularly acute. Moreover, in different aspects – from the multidirectional arguments of politicians to the country’s ratings that pop up from time to time. It has also become central for the expert community: the annual conference MACRO-2025, organized by the independent analytical center “Expert-Grup”, focused on the issues of reducing income inequality and economic divergence of the country on the way to Europe.

Moldovan trade unions are demanding a “breakthrough” in wages so that the country does not enter the European Union as the poorest. Sergiu Sainciuc, deputy chairman of the National Confederation of Trade Unions, said that the minimum wage of 5,500 lei “is not bad in principle, but it is too low,” while the required minimum should be 8,000 lei – half of the projected average wage, Logos Press reported.

Social inequality is increasing in Moldova. From 2019 to 2024, the poverty rate increased almost one and a half times, and the Gini coefficient, which reflects the degree of income stratification in society, increased by 6.8%,” Logos Press reports.

The minimum consumer basket (MCB) is not just a set of products and services. It is an economic “mirror” that should reflect the real standard of living and the minimum human needs for survival. In Moldova, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the MPC is used to determine the subsistence minimum. However, its composition, methodology of calculation and, as a consequence, its final value raise more and more questions. Is the MPC in Moldova an adequate reflection of reality or is it an outdated anachronism that prevents adequate assessment of poverty and well-being?