In Moldova there are over 540,000 people older than 60, 60.3% of whom are women. About two thirds of the elderly people live in rural areas, show data of the National Bureau of Statistics, quoted by IPN.

According to a study of households’ budgets, 5.3% of the elderly people said their state of health is good or very good, 56.3% said it is satisfactory, while 38.4% said it is bad or very bad. The elderly people from urban areas are more satisfied with their state of health than those from rural areas. The bad or very bad state of health is typical more for elderly people from villages.

Over the last years, the number of persons with disabilities among elderly people has decreased. They represent about 52% of the elderly men and, respectively, 48% of the elderly women. Last year, there were 12,600 persons with disabilities in this age category.

The average old age pension on January 1, 2013 was 987 lei, up 9.6% on a year before. The average monthly minimum subsistence level for pensioners was 1,302.8 lei. In urban areas, this level for pensioners was by 144.6 lei higher than in rural areas owing to the higher prices of particular services.