Demographic features of the population of Republic of Moldova include distribution, ethnicity, languages, religious affiliation and other statistical data.

According to the 2014 Moldovan Census, 2,789,205 people resided in the areas controlled by the central government of Republic of Moldova. Another 209,030 were non-resident citizens living abroad, for a total of 2,998,235.

According to the 2015 census in Transnistria, 475,007 people lived in the breakaway Transnistria, including the city of Bender, and the other localities de facto controlled by Transnistrian authorities. Thus, the total population of the country in 2014 amounted to 3,473,242.

Overview of the demographic statistics

Starting with 2014, data don't include the separatist region of Transnistria.

Median age total 34.3 years (2008 est.)(up from 32.22 years in 2005) male 32.4 years(up from 30.14 years in 2005) female 36.4 years(up from 34.27 years in 2005) Literacy rate total 96% (1989); 99.1% (2003); 99.1% (2005) male 99% (1989); 99.6% (2003); 99.7% (2005) female 94% (1989); 98.7% (2003); 98.6% (2005) definition age 15 and over can read and write Unemployment rate 8% (official), 40% (real) Source: The World Factbook, CIA; UN UN (2001/2002) , UN (2000)

Urban–rural distribution of population

According to the 2024 census, 46,4% of the population is urban, which is a considerable increase from 2014, when only 38,5% of the population was urban.

According to the 2014 census, the largest cities under the control of the constitutional authorities are Chișinău with 644,204 (with 590,631 actual urban dwellers) and Bălți with 102,457 (97,930 urban dwellers). The autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia has 134,535, out of which 48,666 or 36,2% are urban dwellers. Ungheni is the third largest city with 32,828, followed by Cahul with 28,763, Soroca with 22,196 and Orhei with 21,065.

By district (2004 census) + no type name population urban rural population % cities population % communes 1 municipality Chișinău 712,218 644,204 90.45% 7 68,014 9.55% 12 2 municipality Bălți 127,561 122,669 96.16% 1 4,892 3.84% 2 3 auton.territ.unit Găgăuzia 155,646 58,190 37.39% 3 97,456 62.61% 23 4 district Anenii Noi 81,710 8,358 10.23% 1 73,352 89.77% 25 5 district Basarabeasca 28,978 11,192 38.62% 1 17,786 61.38% 6 6 district Briceni 78,027 14,230 18.24% 2 63,797 81.76% 26 7 district Cahul 119,231 35,488 29.76% 1 83,743 70.24% 36 8 district Cantemir 60,001 3,872 6.45% 1 56,129 93.55% 26 9 district Călărași 75,075 14,516 19.34% 1 60,559 80.66% 27 10 district Căușeni 90,612 21,941 24.21% 2 68,671 75.79% 25 (out of 28) 11 district Cimișlia 60,925 12,858 21.10% 1 48,067 78.90% 22 12 district Criuleni 72,254 7,138 9.88% 1 65,116 90.12% 24 13 district Dondușeni 46,442 9,801 21.10% 1 36,641 78.90% 21 14 district Drochia 87,092 16,606 19.07% 1 70,486 80.93% 27 15 district Dubăsari 43,015 – – – 34,015 100% 11 16 district Edineț 81,390 23,065 % 2 58,325 % 30 17 district Fălești 90,320 14,931 % 1 75,389 % 32 18 district Florești 89,38917,086 % 3 17,086 % 37 19 district Glodeni 60,975 10,465 % 1 50,510 % 18 20 district Hîncești 119,762 15,281 % 1 104,481 % 38 21 district Ialoveni 97,704 15,041 % 1 82,663 % 24 22 district Leova 51,056 14,411 % 2 36,645 % 23 23 district Nisporeni 64,924 12,105 % 1 52,819 % 22 24 district Ocnița 56,510 19,270 % 3 37,240 % 18 25 district Orhei 116,271 25,641 % 1 90,630 % 37 26 district Rezina 48,105 10,196 % 1 37,909 % 24 27 district Rîșcani 69,454 13,351 % 2 56,103 % 26 28 district Sîngerei 87,153 15,760 % 2 71,393 % 24 29 district Soroca 94,986 28,362 % 1 66,624 % 34 30 district Strășeni 88,900 19,633 % 2 69,267 % 25 31 district Șoldănești 42,227 6,304 % 1 35,923 % 22 32 district Ștefan Vodă 70,594 7,768 % 1 62,826 % 22 33 district Taraclia 43,154 13,756 % 1 29,398 % 14 34 district Telenești 70,126 6,855 % 1 63,271 % 30 35 district Ungheni 110,545 35,311 % 2 75,234 % 31 Subtotal control by central government 3,383,332 1,305,655 38.59% 54 2,077,677 61.41% 844 36 territorial unit Transnistria 383,806 280,6401 63.85% 10 158,8881 36.15% 69 37 municipality Bender 91,197 88,055 96.86% 1 3,142 3.14% 1 10 parts of district Căușeni 14,935 – – – 14,935 100% 3 (out of 28) 15 parts of district Dubăsari 715 – – – 715 100% parts of 1 Subtotal control by breakaway Tiraspol 555,347 377,667 68.01% 11 177,680 31.99% 73 Total 3,938,679 1,683,322 42.74% 65 2,255,357 57.26% 917 Note: 1The breakaway Transnistrian authorities count as rural the population of the towns of Crasnoe, Maiac, and Tiraspolul Nou. Since their exact population isn't available, so does this table.

Population urban rural+Transnistrian-controlled areas (2015 cens.) population cities population communes Tiraspol 129,367 129,367 1 – – Camenca District 20 542 ? 1 ? 12 Rîbnița District 69,000 ? 1 ? 22 Dubăsari District 31,000 ? 1 ? 9 Grigoriopol District 40,000 ?1 2 ?1 14 Slobozia District 84,000 ?2 4 ?2 12 Subtotal Transnistria 383,806 ? 10 ? 69 Bender (w/o Proteagailovca) 91,197 91,197 1 – – Proteagailovca 3,142 – – 3,142 1 Gîsca 4,841 – – 4,841 1 Chițcani (incl. Merenești and Zahorna) ~9,000 – – ~9,000 1 Cremenciug 1,094 – – 1,094 1 Roghi 715 – – 715 parts of 1 Subotal other localities 109,989 91,197 1 18,792 4 Total Tiraspol-controlled areas 475,003 333,003 11 142,000 73

Note: 1 The breakaway Transnistrian authorities have counties as urban only the population of the town of Grigoriopol, while that of the town of Maiac was counted as rural. 2 The breakaway Transnistrian authorities have counties as urban only the population of the towns of Slobozia and Dnestrovsc, while those of the towns of Crasnoe and Tiraspolul Nou were counted as rural.

Vital statistics

+Bessarabia Governorate (1900–1914)Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Crude migration rate (per 1000 19002,037,00083,30648,48034,82640.923.817.1 19012,073,00087,79746,29641,50142.322.320.0 −2.3 19022,113,00096,64155,42341,21845.726.219.5 −0.2 19032,154,00094,93653,23641,70044.124.719.4 0 19042,194,00099,26555,43643,82945.325.320.0 −1.4 19052,237,00080,08562,38717,69835.827.97.9 11.7 19062,267,00095,09055,63839,45241.924.517.4 −4.0 19072,303,000107,19559,96447,23146.526.020.5 −4.6 19082,345,00096,08854,77241,31641.023.417.6 0.6 19092,395,000105,68162,49843,18344.126.118.0 3.3 19102,441,000101,54477,35624,18841.631.79.9 9.3 19112,488,00097,86474,09323,77139.329.89.6 9.7 19122,540,000102,65477,43125,22340.430.59.9 11.0 19132,602,000102,39777,74524,65239.429.99.5 14.9 19142,625,000100,87179,20221,66938.430.28.3 0.5

After WW II, total area

Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Crude migration rate (per 1000)Total fertility rateUrban FertilityRural Fertility 19452,028,00042,79578,797−36,00221.138.9−17.8 19462,108,00064,46264,371 9128.628.50.1 111.3 19472,188,00057,555165,049−107,49426.375.5−49.2 19.9 19482,239,00073,12335,84637,27734.416.917.5 19.9 19492,290,00094,18030,40763,77342.113.628.5 23.2 19502,341,00091,13726,36364,77438.911.327.7 19.3 19512,381,00091,64525,95765,68838.510.927.6 −10.5 19522,432,00080,91830,96849,95033.312.720.5 0.9 19532,491,00079,04123,25755,78431.79.322.4 1.9 19542,557,00083,60724,07759,53032.79.423.3 3.2 19552,627,00079,77221,86457,90830.48.322.0 5.4 19562,701,00081,37220,10961,26330.17.422.7 5.5 19572,777,00085,74321,11464,62930.97.623.3 4.8 19582,853,00087,50218,74168,76130.76.624.1 3.3 3.54 19592,929,00092,17621,46770,70931.57.324.1 2.5 3.64 19603,003,00087,91019,29068,62029.36.422.9 2.4 3.41 1961 3,073,000 86,683 19,590 67,093 28.2 6.4 21.8 1.5 3.20 1962 3,141,000 80,494 21,365 59,129 25.6 6.8 18.8 3.3 3.00 1963 3,208,000 78,422 20,737 57,685 24.4 6.5 18.0 3.3 2.89 1964 3,273,000 73,583 19,944 53,639 22.5 6.1 16.4 3.9 2.71 1965 3,335,000 67,996 20,571 47,425 20.4 6.2 14.2 4.7 2.68 1966 3,395,000 71,406 21,474 49,932 21.0 6.3 14.5 3.5 2.73 1967 3,453,000 71,380 23,406 47,974 20.7 6.8 13.7 3.4 2.69 1968 3,506,000 69,997 24,268 45,729 20.0 6.9 13.0 2.3 2.65 1969 3,549,000 67,575 26,249 41,326 19.0 7.4 11.5 0.8 2.58 1970 3,594,000 69,778 26,577 43,201 19.4 7.4 12.0 0.7 2.56 1971 3,647,000 73,643 27,889 45,754 20.2 7.6 12.5 2.2 2.63 1972 3,700,000 76,198 28,001 48,197 20.6 7.6 13.0 1.5 2.63 1973 3,748,000 76,339 30,756 45,583 20.4 8.2 12.2 0.8 2.59 1974 3,794,000 77,474 32,216 45,258 20.4 8.5 11.9 0.4 2.55 1975 3,839,000 79,169 35,635 43,534 20.6 9.3 11.3 0.6 2.52 1976 3,877,000 79,863 34,812 45,051 20.6 9.0 11.6 −1.7 2.46 1977 3,910,000 79,022 37,250 41,772 20.2 9.5 10.7 −2.2 2.40 1978 3,936,000 78,994 38,410 40,584 20.1 9.8 10.3 −3.7 2.38 1.70 3.00 1979 3,967,000 80,152 41,729 38,423 20.2 10.5 9.7 −1.8 2.39 1.80 2.90 1980 4,010,000 79,580 40,472 39,108 19.8 10.1 9.8 1.0 2.41 1.80 2.90 1981 4,054,000 82,279 41,476 40,803 20.3 10.2 10.1 0.9 2.45 1.80 3.10 1982 4,097,000 83,258 41,046 42,212 20.3 10.0 10.3 0.3 2.43 1.79 3.19 1983 4,137,000 91,304 44,329 46,975 22.1 10.7 11.4 −1.6 2.57 1.87 3.46 1984 4,175,000 89,637 45,537 44,100 21.5 10.9 10.6 −1.4 2.67 1.95 3.65 1985 4,214,000 90,453 46,075 44,378 21.5 10.9 10.5 −1.2 2.70 2.00 3.70 1986 4,255,000 94,726 40,437 54,289 22.3 9.5 12.8 −3.1 2.78 2.00 3.80 1987 4,290,000 91,762 40,185 51,577 21.4 9.4 12.0 −3.8 2.70 2.10 3.80 1988 4,321,000 88,568 40,912 47,656 20.5 9.5 11.0 −3.8 2.63 2.00 3.60 1989 4,349,000 82,221 40,113 42,108 18.9 9.2 9.7 −3.2 2.46 2.02 3.00 1990 4,364,000 77,085 42,427 34,658 17.7 9.7 7.9 −4.5 2.39 1.91 3.07 1991 4,363,000 72,020 45,849 26,171 16.5 10.5 6.0 −6.2 2.26 1.79 2.84 1992 4,353,000 69,654 44,522 25,132 16.0 10.2 5.8 −8.1 2.21 1.68 2.86 1993 4,350,000 66,179 46,637 19,542 15.2 10.7 4.5 −5.2 2.10 1.53 2.77 1994 4,350,000 62,085 51,514 10,571 14.3 12.0 2.3 −2.3 1.95 1.44 2.54 1995 4,340,000 56,411 52,969 3,442 13.0 12.2 0.8 −3.1 1.76 1.31 2.24 1996 4,325,000 51,865 49,748 2,117 12.0 11.5 0.5 −4.0 1.60 1.19 2.05 1997 4,311,000 51,286 51,138 148 11.9 11.9 0.0 −3.2 1.55 1998 4,309,000 46,705 47,691 −986 10.8 11.0 −0.2 1.8 1.48 1999 4,312,000 43,511 48,904 −5,393 10.1 11.4 −1.3 −1.2 1.43 (e)= estimate

Moldova under central government control Source: National Bureau of Statistics