8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Eastern Europe

Born in Moldova

About 1 in 4,003 people born in 2023 started life in Moldova. A boy can expect to live 67 years and a girl 76, up from 50 and 57 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 92% have basic drinking water.

1 in 4,003
odds of being born here
33,000 births · Ranked 142nd of 230
67 / 76
years of life, boys / girls
Was 50 / 57 in 1950
$4,938
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 118th of 203 · extrapolated
43%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 17 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 140 in every 1,000 births to 14.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth66.6 years for boys, 75.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 513.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year42,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.0World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles85%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.9%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year70 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.7, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.73UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.0 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 37 and the poorest fifth 10.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2024
10%Poorest fifth
14%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
37%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $4,938 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth37% / 10% (2024)World Bank PIP
Unemployment1.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises13.4% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.1% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming51% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed59% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment98% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Chisinau, with 635,994 people.

43%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
92%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Chisinau635,994
Tiraspol157,000
Bălţi125,000
Bender110,175
Rîbniţa55,455
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Romanian63%
Ukrainian14%
Bulgarian9%
Gagauz3%
Russian3%
Romanian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Chișinău Municipality678,236
Transnistria251,065
Bălţi125,000
Bender Municipality110,175
Gagauzia45,611
Cahul34,492
Ungheni34,422
Soroca District27,423
Orhei24,918
Raionul Edineţ22,872

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 16 regions
  • Chișinău Municipality678,236
  • Transnistria251,065
  • Bălţi125,000
  • Bender Municipality110,175
  • Gagauzia45,611
  • Cahul34,492
  • Ungheni34,422
  • Soroca District27,423
  • Orhei24,918
  • Raionul Edineţ22,872
  • Căuşeni21,690
  • Strășeni19,225
  • Hînceşti16,900
  • Floreşti16,759
  • Drochia16,080
  • Sîngerei15,479

People on the move

About 28% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Italy, Russia, Ukraine.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Italy218,594
Russia166,187
Ukraine154,284
Residents born abroad6.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 28.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostItaly (218,594), Russia (166,187), Ukraine (154,284)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.9 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

94% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 26%.

94%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
26%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202412,245Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence585 between 1992 and 1992UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Moldova, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Moldova

Elsewhere in Europe

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences