Moldova remains without population, while the number of elderly people increases from year to year. The phenomenon affects mainly the villages, which lose about 3,000 persons annually. According to the head of the Demographic Policies Division of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family Larisa Rotaru, the forecast for the next few years is similar – the population will continue to decline.

“When the persons of retirement age become economically inactive, they only consume budgetary resources. The young generation will continue to contract and won’t be integrated into the working process. This will have a negative effect, especially on the economy,” Larisa Rotaru stated for IPN.

She said that migration determined by poverty and unsatisfactory living conditions is the main cause of the decline in rural population. “The birth rate started to decrease suddenly after 2000 and the migration process intensified. Internal migration is another factor. The young people leave the villages. They look for better living conditions and a better future in towns,” said Larisa Rotaru.

She added that in order to overcome this state of affairs, the socioeconomic conditions must be improved, while the infrastructure and services should be developed, especially in villages, so as to attract the people back or at least to keep those remaining.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of deaths in rural areas in 1999-2012 exceeded the number of births, while the natural rise in population was -3.01%. The number of children aged between 0 and 14 decreased constantly – from 29.8% of the population in 1989 to 17.9% in 2012.

The demographic ageing processes are more intense in villages, while the persons aged 60 and over represent 18.4% of the rural population, as against 15.3% per country.