Almost 40% of young people aged between 15 and 29 in Moldova are neither in education nor employment. The data was presented by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the context of International Youth Day, reports IPN.
According to NBS, at the beginning of the year, there were 517.3 thousand young people aged between 14 and 34 living in the Republic of Moldova, representing about 22% of the country’s population. Of these, over 52% were women and about 48% were men. Over the course of a year, the number of young people decreased by 13,500 individuals, or by 2.5%.
Labor market data shows that 188.4 thousand young people aged 15-34 were employed, 11,800 were unemployed, and 299 thousand were out of the labor force. The unemployment rate among young people aged 15-34 was about 6%, compared to 3.8%, which is the national unemployment rate. Therefore, almost every fifth young person was either not working or had an informal job.
At the same time, in the previous academic year, approximately 152 thousand students from high school and technical vocational education were enrolled, 5% more than the previous year. Of these, 38.7 thousand were high school students, 50.2 thousand were attending technical vocational education and 62.9 thousand were university students.
At the same time, statistics show that the average age of women at first birth has risen to 26.7 years from 25.6 years in 2024. Simultaneously, 6,500 children were born to young mothers outside of marriage.
Over 86% of young people rated their health as good or very good. In 2025, there were 209 new cases of cancer among individuals aged 15-34, an increase compared to 2024. On the other hand, the number of new cases of active tuberculosis was 229, a decrease of over 20% compared to 2024, and 185 young people were diagnosed with HIV, about 11% fewer than in the previous year.
The main causes of death among young people were accidents, poisonings, and traumas, which accounted for over 41% of the total. These were followed by diseases of the circulatory system, with about 13%, and tumors, with 10.6%.
Almost four thousand young people aged between 14 and 29 committed crimes in 2025, about 8% less than the previous year. The most common were thefts, acts of hooliganism and drug-related offenses.
