About the ILO in the Republic of Moldova

A labour market hit hard by the pandemic

Moldova achieved important development results over the last two decades, building on an average annual GDP growth of 4.6 percent before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Economic growth, high and constant inflows of remittances, and social transfers have reduced poverty and promoted shared prosperity. Moldova’s convergence with the rest of Europe also improved. In 2000, the country’s per capita income was 14 per cent of the average EU income; currently the national income per person is at 30 per cent of the EU average. However, the country still has one of the lowest per capita incomes and gross wages in entire Eastern Europe. Demographic challenges (aging of the population and continuous emigration) and limited structural transformation (with a quarter of workers still employed in agriculture) combined with incomplete economic transition and governance reforms hold back the country. Continue reading