Approximately 283 thousand Moldovans were registered abroad in 2014. 

 

The National Bureau of Statistics data shows that 80 percent of those who left the country were from the villages. Six out of ten were aged between 20 and 39 years. It's about 170 thousand people and over 81,000 - between 40 and 59 years.

Eight out of ten Moldovans said they went abroad looking for a job. More than 12 percent of the countrymen went with their family or relatives already established in other countries, five percent of Moldovans went to study, the majority of them in Romania.

In 2014, over 150,000 Moldovans were in Russia, over 56,000 - in Italy and over nine thousand - in Romania. Among the favorite countries for Moldovans were also France, Israel, USA and Spain.

However, the National Bureau of Statistics states that this data does not reflect the real figure of those abroad. Official data shows that the number of Moldovans emigrating annually from our country declined nearly three times in 2017 compared to 2001.

The largest wave occurred between 2001 and 2008, when around 6900 Moldovans were leaving the country annually.