Moldova’s Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2014 is 0.693, which puts the country in the medium human development category, positioning it at 107 out of 188 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2014, Moldova’s HDI value has increased with 6.3 percent, IPN reports.

Between 1980 and 2014, Moldova’s life expectancy at birth increased by 6.6 years, mean years of schooling increased by 4.8 years and expected years of schooling decreased by 0.1 years. The gross national income per capita decreased by about 20.8 percent in the period.

Youth unemployment trends are worrisome and young people from Moldova tend to migrate for studies and jobs abroad. About 20-25% of the labor migrants are young people.

Furthermore human progress has been uneven, human deprivations are still widespread and much human potential remains unused. In Moldova 69 percent of urban people have access to safe drinking water, compared with only one fourth of rural people. Rural/urban disparities in access to basic social services are sharp in Moldova, notes the report.

From Europe and Central Asia, countries which are close to Moldova in 2014 HDI rank and to some extent in population size are Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which have HDIs ranked 109 and 114 respectively.

The report urges countries to improve women’s lives by ensuring equal pay, providing decent parental leave, and tackling the harassment and the social norms that exclude so many of them from paid work. It also calls for more equitable distribution of care work.