A quarter of the population of the Republic of Moldova, precisely 25.9%, is 60 years old and above. In absolute figures, this means over 616 thousand people, according to data from the beginning of this year. Women, on average, live longer than men – last year the difference was 4 years and 7 months. Thus, a 60-year-old woman has an average life expectancy of another 20 years and 6 months, while for men it is 15 years and 9 months, reports IPN, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS), presented on the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, marked annually on October 1st.
According to BNS, of all the elderly, 60.2% are women, and 10.8% of these have surpassed the age of 80. As of January 1, 2025, the ratio between men and women among individuals aged 60 and over was 66 men to 100 women.
The proportion of women is higher than that of men even among retirees. As of January 1, 2025, there were 529.7 thousand retired women, which represents 78.7% of the total number of retirees. At the same time, the pensions granted to women for age limit are, on average, 16% lower than those of men. Last year, the average pension of women was 3,740 lei, while men received 4,469 lei.
The statistics also show that approximately 24.2% of retirees remain active in the workforce at the time of retirement. In 2024, the number of people aged 60 and over who were economically active was 98.2 thousand, representing 11% of the total active individuals and 16.1% of the total population in the same age group.
The elderly are predominantly engaged in agricultural activities. Every fifth person indicated the peasant household or agricultural land as their main place of work. While retired men are primarily employed in agriculture, industry, and trade, among women, the predominant activity is in education, followed by health and social assistance, then agriculture and trade.
In terms of mortality, just as in the case of the general population, the main causes of death among the elderly are diseases of the circulatory system, which account for 65% of all deaths in this age group. Tumors represent 17%, while diseases of the digestive system account for 6.2%.
