Unemployment in Moldova

To obtain șomer status in Moldova, a person generally has to be between age 16 and retirement age, capable of working, without a job and not in full-time study. The person cannot hold an individual entrepreneur patent or normally be a founder, associate or administrator of a for-profit legal entity. Verified insolvency, liquidation or inactive-status exceptions can apply. The person must search actively for work individually and through STOFM and be available to start suitable work. A 2026 proposal would lower the minimum age to 15 and expand the NEET age range to 34, but it is not an operative rule until promulgated. Registration takes place in person at STOFM, online through e-ISS with an electronic signature or with assistance through CUPS. An online application still requires originals and copies to be validated within 14 calendar days. The file normally includes a valid identity card or residence permit, education or qualification documents and, where relevant, a dismissal order for employment during the preceding 24 months. STOFM also records the application, self-declaration, personal-data verification and an individual employment plan. There is no official filing fee stated in the available information. Unemployment insurance requires no labour income at the entitlement date, at least 12 months of social-insurance contributions during the preceding 24 months and compliance with the individual employment plan. Severance pay, salary recalculation linked to dismissal and pensions other than an old-age pension are treated as exceptions to the labour-income condition. Refusing suitable work or active measures can prevent or end entitlement. STOFM decides the benefit right within 10 working days after șomer registration, and an approved benefit starts on the registration date. CNAS calculates and pays it monthly for the preceding month through the selected MPay method. The regular benefit equals 40% of the average insured monthly income from 12 months within the preceding 24 months. The payment is capped at the average monthly wage in the economy for the preceding January. A special-status șomer receives 700 MDL per month. The payment lasts five months with 12 to 10 years of contributions, seven months with 10 to 15 years and nine months with more than 15 years. During registration, the person must attend STOFM each month according to the assigned schedule, attend employer interviews, participate in services and measures, accept suitable work offered through STOFM and submit a job-search activity report. Changes such as employment, foreign travel or medical leave must be reported within three working days. Benefit recipients receive public social-insurance and mandatory health-insurance coverage during payment, and the benefit period counts as a contribution period. Registration without a benefit does not by itself establish automatic free medical coverage. Temporary medical leave can suspend payment. Temporary employment for up to three months can also suspend it. Employment, expiry of the entitlement period, loss of șomer status, maternity leave, reinstatement by a final court decision, undeclared work, non-compliance, loss or withdrawal of residence or protection status and death can terminate the benefit. Current CNAS information contains an unresolved inconsistency about payment-arrears suspension: one language version refers to three months and another to twelve months. That period should be confirmed directly with CNAS before relying on it. STOFM and ANOFM offer labour-market information, career guidance, labour intermediation, pre-dismissal services, professional rehabilitation for disability, assisted employment and NEET identification. Active measures include professional training, employer or job subsidies, workplace creation or adaptation and labour mobility. In 2026, registered șomeri without a profession or occupation, or with a qualification that is not locally demanded, may use a training voucher for occupations and providers on the ANOFM list. Availability differs between the Nord, Centru and Sud regions. The training scholarship equals 35% of the preceding year's average monthly wage and is prorated according to attendance. Work-based training adds training-cost coverage, and a professional internship of up to four months can include the same scholarship and training-cost support. ANOFM also supports unemployed people who start a business. The subsidy can cover 80% of eligible start-up or workplace-equipment costs, up to 20 preceding-year average monthly wages. The business plan needs at least 60 points, the beneficiary contributes 20% and the measure requires at least one new job for the beneficiary. This is a transition measure, not a separate unemployment benefit. Ajutor social is a separate means-tested benefit for disadvantaged families, administered by social-assistance structures and local authorities. Registered unemployed status may support eligibility, but household income, composition and other duties determine the result. Seasonal energy assistance or compensation can also include unemployed households. Benefit exhaustion does not create a separate extended unemployment-insurance entitlement on the available evidence, although STOFM services may continue where eligibility remains. The National Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Survey recorded 926,900 people in the labour force aged 15 to 89 and 859,300 employed people in the second quarter of 2026. Its ILO unemployment rate for ages 15 to 74 was 7.3%, representing 67,600 unemployed people, compared with 10.4% in the first quarter. The annual 2025 figures were 805,000 in the labour force, 774,000 employed and 31,000 unemployed, with an unemployment rate of 3.8%; the rates were 4.3% for men, 3.4% for women, 4.1% in urban areas and 3.6% in rural areas. The 2025 annual table used a different age basis and the 2025 survey methodology was revised, so direct trend comparisons require caution. In 2025, the unemployment rate was 7.4% for ages 15 to 24 and 7.0% for ages 15 to 29. ANOFM served 60,958 jobseekers in 2025, including 18,482 registered șomeri; its recorded services included information for 58,879 people, labour intermediation for 32,424, career guidance for 15,815 and recruitment or job-fair activity counted at 258. These administrative service figures do not measure national unemployment prevalence.