The stable population of Moldova at the start of 2012 was 3.559,5 million, a decrease of 900 compared with the same period last year, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 2.073,8 million people or 58.3% of the country’s population live in rural areas, while 1.485,8 million or 41.7% live in rural areas. The women represent 51.9% of the population (1.847,8 million), while the men – 48.1% (1.711,7 million). By age groups, the people under the working age constitute 17.5% of the population, those of working age – 66.6%, while those over the working age – 15.9%. The ageing coefficient (the number of persons of 60 and over for every 100 people) was 14.8%. Almost 15.5% of the rural population is aged 60 and over, with the rural women of this age bracket representing 18.4%. The data do not include the population of Transnistria and Bender municipality.