Moldova's economy is primarily dependent on agriculture, accounting for almost 8% of total GDP and 48% of all exports.

(Source: National Statistics PDF pg: 3, National Statistics)

GDP in 2010 (till Sep) was MDL 52.21 billion.

(Source: National Statistics, National Statistics)

The GDP of Moldova grew consistently between 2005 and 2008. However, it declined from MDL 62.92 billion in 2008 to MDL 52.21 billion in 2010 (till September).

Moldova’s GDP has experienced continuous growth since 2005 and it grew at 17.77% in 2008. However, Moldova's economic situation in the past year has seen a downturn. The GDP growth in 2009 dipped sharply to -3.96%.

GDP per Capita

Moldova's GDP per capita in 2009 was USD 1,515.

(Source: National Statistics - PDF pg: 3)

Gross national income (GNI) per capita, PPP

The GNI per capita at PPP was USD 3,149.3 in 2010 and grew by 3.31% over the previous year.

(Source: UNDP)

For the first nine months of 2009, exports in Moldova amounted to USD 896.4 million, a decrease of 25.1% compared to the corresponding period in 2008. The imports amounted to USD 2,282.8 million, a decrease of 37.8% compared to the same period in 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

Income tax

Tax levied on individual incomes is as follows:

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

Moldova eliminated corporate tax in January 2008; however, there are plans to reintroduce it again in 2012.

(Source: doingbusiness.org, heritage.org)

Inflation rate

The inflation rate in December 2010 was 8.1% compared to 2.9% at the beginning of 2010.

(Source: Central bank, Central Bank – page no 57)

FDI Inflow

Between January and March 2010, FDI inflows amounted to USD 47.5 million, an increase of 43.0% compared to the corresponding period in 2009. FDI as proportion of GDP was 1.5% in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank)

Banking sector assets

(Source: Central Bank)

Consumer price index (CPI)

(Source: National Statistics)

Base, previous year = 100

Interest rate on time deposits

(Source: National Statistics)

Money supply (Currency in Circulation)

Total money in circulation in Moldova was MDL 10,107.6 million in December 2010, compared to MDL 8,849 million at the end of December 2009.

(Source: Central Bank)

Government expenditure

In 2009, government expenditure was MDL 27,352.4 million. There was an increase of 23.12% in government expenditure compared to 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

Official exchange rate

There was a decrease in the exchange rate between 2006 and 2008. In 2010, the value of MDL increased by 16.83%, compared to 2008.

(Source: Central Bank)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

Moldova recorded a fiscal deficit of MDL 3,837.3 million in 2009 compared to a deficit of MDL 630 million in 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

Total Revenue

The total revenue in Moldova in 2009 amounted to MDL 23,515.1 million compared to MDL 25,516.9 million in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

Tax revenue

The tax revenue in 2009 was 33.4% of Moldova's GDP. In 2008, the total tax revenue amounted to MDL 15,389.9 million.(Source: heritage.org)

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Total grants

Total grants in 2008 amounted to MDL 1,021.7 million  compared to MDL 954.8 million in 2007.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

Current account balance - surplus/deficit

Moldova has been running a current account deficit since 2006. The current account deficit in 2010 was 11.2% of GDP compared to 8.13% in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Balance of payments 

(Source: Central Bank)

The labour force in Moldova was 1,313,800 people in the third quarter of 2010. This is a decrease of approximately 0.97% for the same period in 2009. Men and women accounted for approximately 673,200 and 640,600 people of the total labour force.

(Source: National Statistics)

The total labour force participation rate in Moldova was 64.8% in 2008. The participation rate for women was 47% while for men it was 52%.

(Source: World Bank)

There were approximately 1,344,600 skilled workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing, of which 712,900 were men and 631,700 were women in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

The unemployment rate in 2010 was 7.4%. The urban and rural unemployment rates were 9.6% and 5.4% respectively. The unemployment rate for men was higher at 9.1% compared to 5.7% for women.

(Source: National Statistics)

(Source: National Statistics)

Minimum wage

The minimum wage limits prevailing in Moldova are MDL 1,100 per month. The minimum wage for a 19-year old employee or an apprentice is approximately USD 96.6 per month.

(Source: FEDEE, doingbusiness.org)

Level of unionisation

The National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSM) is a national trade union centre in Moldova. It consists of 29 national trade union centres and has a membership of more than 500,000 people.

(Source: CNSM)

Moldova has a republican system of government. The executive power is vested in the president, the prime minister and the cabinet. The president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government.

The legislative power lies with parliament, which consists of 101 deputies. The election of deputies is held within three months of the dissolution of the previous parliament.

The following are the major registered political parties in Moldova:

• Democratic Party of Moldova
• Party of Communists of Moldova
• Liberal Party
• Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova

 (Source: Ministry of tourism, Adept, BBC)

Regulatory environment in Moldova

Moldova is a parliamentary republic. Parliament is the only legislative authority of the state and the highest representative of the Moldovan people.

(Source:Heritage.org)

Moldova's economic freedom score is 55.7 and ranks 120^th in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. In the European region, Moldova ranks 40^th among 43 countries. Moldova's economic freedom score is below the regional and world averages.

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Moldova is ranked 105^th in the 2010 index where as it ranked 89^th in 2009, indicating an increase in corruption levels in public departments.

(Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Freedom of the press or the media is guaranteed by Moldova's constitution. However, defamation of the government is prohibited by the penal code and press laws.

(Source: BBC)

Moldova is ranked 75^th in the World Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 19.13, indicating moderate levels of media restriction.

(Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers

• Timpul
• Flux
• Moldova Suverana
• Jurnal de Chisinau
• Kommersant Moldoviy (Russian Language)
• Komsomolskaya Pravda (Russian Language)
• Nezavisimaya Moldova (Russian Language)

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judiciary in Moldova includes:

• High Council of Magistracy
• Supreme Court of Justice
• Courts of appeal

The Supreme Court is the highest court of justice. The Supreme Court consists of chief judge and three deputy chief judges, 45 judges and seven assistant judges. The deputy chief judges also act as chairpersons of the Civil and Administrative Review College, the Economic College and the Criminal College.

The Supreme Court is responsible for correct and uniform application of the law by all courts, to resolve conflicts that arise in the application of laws and guarantee the responsibility of the state to the citizen and of the citizen to the state.

(Source: Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court)

Total population

The total population of Moldova in 2010 was 3,563,695, a decrease of 0.10% compared to the previous year. 1,713,487 of the total population were men and the remaining 1,850,208 were women.

(Source: National Statistics)

(Source: National Statistics)

Gender balance

Men made up 48.08% of the total population and women 51.91%.

Population by age structure

18.21% of the total populationwas below 15 years of age, 66.54% of the population was in the 16-56 year age group and 15.25% was above the age of 57.

(Source: National Statistics)

Mortality Rate

The mortality rate of infants was 12.1% and the total mortality rate of Moldova was 11.8% in 2009.

The birth rate was 11.4% in 2009. The number of deaths registered in Moldova in 2009 was 42,139.

The average life expectancy in Moldova for males was 65.31 years and for females it is 73.37 years (2009).

(Source: National Statistics, National Statistics)

Migration and urbanisation

The total number of immigrants to Moldova in 2009 was 2010; a decline of 26.88% compared to 2749 immigrants in 2008. The majority of the population immigrated for family related reasons, followed by work and for study.

The total number of emigrants from Moldova in 2009 was 6663, of which 956 people were in the 25-29 year age group.

(Source: National Statistics)

Moldova is a small country where 58.56% of the population lives in rural areas and 41.44% of the population live in urban area.

(Source: National Statistics)

Racial/ethnic environment

The main ethnic groups in Moldova include Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Gagauzians, Jews, Byelorussians, Poles, Germans, Gypsies, Greeks, Lithuanians, Armenians, Azerbaijanians, Tatars, Chuvashs, Italians, Koreans and Uzbeksare.

(Source: Government of Moldova)

Poverty

Approximately 26% of the population was below the national poverty level in 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

Human development index

Moldova ranked 99^th out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index 2010 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

The adult literacy rate in Moldova was 99.4% in 2010.

(Source: UNDP)

Education resources

The various levels of education include:

• Pre-school education
• Primary and general secondary education
• Secondary vocational education
• Secondary specialised education
• Higher education

In the 2009-10 academic year, Moldova had 3,029 educational institutions. This included 1,362 pre-school institutions, 1,512 primary and general secondary schools, 75 secondary vocational institutions, 47 colleges and 33 higher educational institutions.

The combined gross enrolment ration for both males and females was 71.6%. The total expenditure on education in 2008 was 8.2% of GDP.

(Source: National Statistics, UNDP)

Health care

Most of the Moldovan population suffer from chronic illness; every third person suffers from at least one chronic disease (33.9%). The rate of incidence of illness in the urban population (36.9%) is higher than in rural population (31.7%). The most common chronic diseases prevailing in the population include diseases of the circulatory (29.8%), digestive (15.3%), osteoarticular diseases (13.3%) and nervous system diseases (10.3%).

The health expenditure from the national budget in 2009 was MDL 3,846.9 million an increase of 13.43% compared to 2008.

(Source: National Statistics)

In 2009, Moldova had 83 hospitals, of which 73 were government owned. The number of beds in hospital in 2009 was 21,938 compared to 21,798 in 2008. Moldova had only 61.6 beds per 10,000 inhabitants.

(Source: National Statistics)

The main mode of public transport in Moldova is road travel (mainly buses and cabs).

Roadways

The length of public road lines in operation was 9,344 km in 2009. The length of national roads and local roads was 3,336 km and 6,008 km respectively in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

Railways

Railways are operated by the Moldovan railways and the length of railway lines in operation was 1,157 km in 2009.

(Source: National Statistics)

Airports

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

Moldova had 1,295,000 internet users in June 2010 and the internet penetration rate was 30.0%.

(Source: internetworldstats.com)