The number of those declaring Romanian as their mother tongue in the Republic of Moldova is increasing significantly. The percentage varies by region
The EU flag, near the Moldovan parliament, Chisinau, Photo: Sergei GAPON / AFP / Profimedia
The number of residents of the Republic of Moldova who declare “Romanian” as their mother tongue has increased significantly compared to ten years ago, while the proportion of those who declare themselves “Moldovans” and respectively “Romanians” from an ethnic point of view is slightly increasing, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics in Chisinau, extracted based on the results of the population and housing census conducted in 2024.
The most pronounced change is observed in terms of the mother tongue, notes NewsMaker, quoted by News.ro. The proportion of those who named “Romanian” as their mother tongue increased significantly – up to 31.8% (765,838 people), compared to only 22.6% ten years ago. At the same time, the share of those who consider “Moldovan” as their mother tongue decreased from 55.5% to 48.1% (1,159,857 people).
In total, the category “Moldovan” plus “Romanian” adds up to 79.9% of the population.
At the same time, it is worth noting that the share of those who named Russian as their mother tongue also increased – 11.6% (280,050 people), compared to 9.6% in 2014. The share of the Ukrainian language decreased to 3%, despite the fact that Moldova hosts many refugees from Ukraine.
In the capital Chisinau, Romanian was indicated as the mother tongue by 47.7% of the inhabitants, while the “Moldovan” language by 28.7%. Russian remains the mother tongue for 19.7% of the capital's inhabitants. At the same time, in the north of the country, the “Moldovan” language dominates (62%), compared to Romanian (17.3%).
According to the 2024 census, 76.7% of the inhabitants of the Republic of Moldova (1,848,670 people) declared themselves “Moldovans” from an ethnic point of view, an increase compared to 2014, when the share was 74%. At the same time, the number of those who identify themselves as “Romanians” also increased significantly – 8% (193,197 people), compared to 6.6% 10 years ago.
Conversely, the share of other large ethnic groups decreased: Ukrainians represent 5.1% of the population (compared to 6.6% in 2014), Russians – 3.4% (compared to 4.1%), and Gagauz – 4% (compared to 4.3%).
The demographic analysis shows that ethnic Russians (80.9%) and Russian speakers (80.5%) live mainly in urban areas, while ethnic Moldovans (57.4%) live in rural areas.
