About the ILO in the Republic of Moldova

For labour markets a long recovery ahead

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 inflows of remittances, and social transfers have reduced the relative poverty.

The development gap between Moldova and the rest of Europe has narrowed down. In 2000, the country’s per capita income was 14 per cent of the average EU income; in 2020 the national income per person reached 29 per cent of the EU average. However, the country still has one of the lowest per capita incomes and gross wages per employee 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