The absolute poverty threshold on average per person in 2019 was 2,095.13 lei. The absolute poverty rate was 25.2%, IPN reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics. The poverty rate is the main indicator used to measure poverty and represents the proportion of persons whose consumption costs are lower than the set poverty threshold.

The rural population is exposed to a bigger poverty rate than the urban population. The poverty rate in rural areas in 2019 was 34.5%, as opposed to 11.2% in urban areas. The poverty rate is much higher in the southern region (40.4%), while in the municipality of Chisinau it is much lower (4.4%).

Depending on the type of household, the lowest poverty rate was in households consisting of one member younger than 60 and of couples without children younger than 60 (13.0%). The highest poverty rate (38.1%) was in households consisting of one member older than 60 and with three children and more.

Poverty also varies depending on the level of education of the head of the family and the probability of being poorer is thus lower in the case of households where the family head has a higher level of training.

The extreme poverty rate (threshold of 1,689.7 lei a month) was of 10.7%. The poverty profoundness rate in 2019 was 3.68%, which means that poverty can be overcome by increasing the average consumption of the population by 3.68% of the absolute poverty threshold.