Moldova’s Workforce Is Shrinking Rapidly: Down 6% in a Quarter

The labor force in the Republic of Moldova continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics. The employment rate fell, while the number of inactive persons rose. According to official statistics, the labor force (economically active population aged 15 and older) amounted to 830,900 people, down 6.3% compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, the employed population numbered 806,400 people, down 5.8%, writes bani.md. The employment rate among people aged 15 and older reached 40.8%, which is 2.6 percentage points lower than in the third quarter of 2025 (43.4%). At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to 2.9%, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter (3.5%). The total number of unemployed was estimated at 24,500 people, which is 6,500 fewer than in the previous quarter. The data shows that the workforce is balanced in terms of gender: men and women have equal shares of 50%. Also, the economically active population in urban areas accounted for 50.9%, slightly exceeding the figure for rural areas (49.1%). As regards lab our market participation, the participation rate for the population aged 15 and over fell to 42.1%, which is 2.8 percentage points lower than in the third quarter of 2025. For the 20-64 age group, the participation rate was 56.9%, down 3.9 percentage points. The employment structure shows that 64.4% of employed persons work in the service sector, 11.9% in industry, and 13.9% in agriculture. Construction employs 9.8% of the total number of workers. Most workers (86.1%) are employed, with 90.7% of them having permanent contracts. About 11.9% of employed persons work in the informal sector, and in non-agricultural activities, the largest share of informal employment is in construction (47.5%). At the same time, the number of inactive persons increased significantly. The population outside the lab our force aged 15 and over reached 1.143 million, an increase of 5.2%. The inactivity rate rose to 57.9%. The majority of inactive persons are pensioners (43%), followed by pupils and students (13.8%) and persons caring for family members (11.4%). At the same time, 12.1% of inactive persons have a job abroad or intend to go abroad to work. Statistics also show that the highest unemployment rate is among young people aged 25 to 34, where the rate reaches 4.6%.