Census 2024 | About 85% of the inhabitants of the Republic of Moldova declare themselves Romanian/Moldovan
About 85% of the inhabitants of the Republic of Moldova declare themselves Romanian/Moldovan, according to the final results of the 2024 Population and Housing Census, presented on October 20 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Also, 79.9% of the population declared Romanian and "Moldovan" as their mother tongue.
For ten years, since the 2014 Census, the share of people declaring themselves Romanian has increased from 6.6% to 8%. 76.7% of the surveyed people and 76.8% of those who declared their ethnicity declare themselves to be Moldovan, which is an increase of 2.7 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous census.
Fewer Russians, more Roma
The share of people declaring themselves to be of other ethnicities has decreased: Ukrainians – from 6.6% to 5.1%, Russians – from 4.1% to 3.4%, Gagauz – from 4.3% to 4.0% and Bulgarians – from 1.8% to 1.6%.
Other ethnic groups registered, overall, an increase from 0.5% in 2014 to 0.6% in 2024. The share of Roma ethnic groups increased from 0.3% to 0.4%.
Of the total population of 2.4 million inhabitants, 191 000 or 7.9% declared a second ethnicity, the data being collected for the first time in the 2024 Census. As the second ethnicity, Romanian prevailed - 5.7% of the total population, followed by Moldovan - 1.4%.
More Romanians live in cities, more Moldovans - in villages
At the level of administrative-territorial units, the majority of citizens declared themselves Moldovans, the share varying from 65.4% in Basarabeasca district to 96.4% in Dubăsari district.
The only exceptions are the Gagauzia Autonomous Region, where 81.2% of the population is represented by Gagauz, and the Taraclia district, with a Bulgarian ethnic majority of 64.2%.
The rural population predominates among people who declared themselves Moldovans – 57.4% and Gagauz – 57.5%.
The largest share in the urban area is held by people who declared themselves ethnic Russians. At the reference date of the Census, 80.9% of ethnic Russians lived in the city. The ethnic Russian population is concentrated mainly in the municipalities of Balti – 10.1% and Chisinau – 5.9%, as well as in the Basarabeasca – 7.5% and Dondușeni – 5.2% districts.
Also, the majority of those who declared themselves Romanians lived in urban areas – 56.8%, Ukrainians – 56.8%, Bulgarians – 59.5% and Roma/Gypsies – 66%.
The population who declared themselves to be of Romanian ethnicity forms larger shares in the municipality of Chisinau – 12.9% and in the districts in the center of the Republic of Moldova: Ialoveni – 15.6%, Straseni – 11.3%, Criuleni – 10.8% and Calarasi – 10%.
Localities with concentrated ethnicities
From a numerical point of view, the largest number of those declared as Moldovans was in the city of Chisinau – 399 000, as well as those declared as ethnic Romanians – 69 000, Ukrainians – 35 000 and Russians – 39 000.
The largest share, over 30%, of people declared as ethnic Romanians was in the villages of Negrești in the Strășeni district, Feștelița in the Ștefan Vodă district, Zgărdești in the Telenești district, Hansca in the Ialoveni district, Camenca in the Glodeni district, Tuzara in the Călărași district, Orac in the Leova district, Drăsliceni in the Criuleni district and Opaci in the Căușeni district.
The ethnic Ukrainian population constitutes a majority of over 50% in 31 villages, the highest shares, over 70%, being in Medveja, Bogdănești, Halahora de Sus, Mihăileni and Tețcani in Briceni district, Unguri and Vălcineț in Ocnita district, Răcăria and Malinovscoe in Râșcani district, as well as Danu in Glodeni district.
Ethnic Russians form the majority of the population in five villages: Pocrovca in Dondușeni district, Cunicea in Florești district, Troițcoe in Cimișlia district, Dobrogea Veche in Sângerei district and Semionovca in Ștefan Vodă district.
The Gagauz population is the majority in 23 towns and villages. In terms of numbers, Gagauz were most numerous in the municipality of Comrat – 14 000, the town of Ceadir-Lunga – 11 000 and the commune of Congaz – 7000, 8000.
Bulgarians constitute the majority of the inhabitants in eight towns and villages. Most live in the towns of Taraclia – 7.700, Chisinau – 5.900 and Tvardița – 3.100.
Roma have shares of over 20% in the town of Otaci in the Ocnita district, in the villages of Buda in the Calarasi district and in Ciorești in the Nisporeni district.
The share of those who speak Romanian is increasing
The Romanian or "Moldovan" language, scientifically non-existent, was declared by 79.9% of the population as their mother tongue, compared to 78.1% in the 2014 Census. The population with the declared mother tongue "Moldovan" prevailed in 28 districts - from 51.7% in the Straseni district to 78.4% in the Soldanesti district.
The Romanian language as mother tongue was the majority in the Ialoveni district, being declared by 58.1% of the district's population.
Summing up the share of those who declared "Moldovan" or Romanian as their mother tongue, in 33 districts and municipalities they form the majority of the population, of which in 20 districts and municipalities it exceeds 90%. The maximum share is in the Telenesti district - 98.8%.
“If we compare the 2004 and 2014 Censuses with the 2024 Census, we will see that the changes are quite rapid and quite profound. The Soviet period left us with hard marks in terms of how the language is called. The new generations, of course, are aware that the language is, after all, Romanian”, commented demographer Valeriu Sainsus for Radio Moldova.
The Russian language declared as a mother tongue has higher shares in the municipalities of Bălți – 37.2% and Chișinău – 19.7%, as well as in the districts of Basarabeasca – 22.5%, Ocnița – 17.4%, Edineț – 16.2%, Taraclia – 14.8% and Cahul – 13.2%.
Compared to the 2014 Census, the share of those who declared Romanian as their spoken language increased – from 23.1% to 33.7% in 2024, by 10.6 percentage points.
The share of those who declared “Moldovan” as their usually spoken language decreased from 53.6% to 45.0% or by 8.6 percentage points.
At the same time, the share of Russian as a usually spoken language (15.9%) is higher compared to Russian declared as a mother tongue (11.6%), especially in Bălți (45%).
The Population and Housing Census is a national statistical survey that takes place at least once every ten years. The most recent census was conducted between April 8 and July 7, 2024.
The data were collected mainly through direct interviews by enumerators. The responses were recorded on tablets – a first for the Republic of Moldova.
Preliminary results were presented in June 2024, confirming a population of 2.4 million people and 1.6 million households.
The final results were presented by the NBS during 2025.
