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The second article from the Moldova Business Week venue is reveling the country’s economic
recovery and resilience process after a period of shocks following the initial years of war in the neighboring Ukraine. Additionally, the national growth pattern has been heavily supported by the EU’s integrational-type financial support package and foreign direct investment equity capital.
National economy
In 2025, the country’s gross domestic product, GDP reached about €18 billion, up 2.4 percent on the previous year; the GDP per capita is about € 7,644; in the first quarter of 2026 the country’s economy grew by about 1,4 percent on a year-on-year basis. The information and communication technologies, ICTs contribute about 7.5% in GDP and recorded a 12.5% increase recently, with agriculture, education and construction to follow.
More in: https://www.economicsobservatory.com/how-might-policy-makers-improve-moldovas-economic-prospects
Investment is the main driver of national economic growth: in 2025 gross fixed capital formation rose by about 17 percent in real terms and accounted for 22 percent of GDP, contributing 3.5 percentage points to economic growth, i.e. more than any other component of aggregate demand. Moldavian migrant workers present an additional surplus of growth i.e. the flow of remittance payments to Moldova bolsters domestic consumption: in 2024, net personal remittances were estimated as $1.5 billion – about one-seventh of national GDP.
The European Union is rolling out a €1.9 billion growth and pre-accession investment plan for 2025–2027 to overhaul infrastructure, energy grids and public sectors.
Additionally on the state’s path to the EU in: https://www.integrin.dk/2026/09/04/doing-business-in-moldova-a-vital-window-of-opportunity-for-investors-part-i/
Main development features
The following are the main features reflecting the Moldavian economic situation:
= Foreign direct investment (FDI) accumulated equity capital and concentrated in financial and insurance activities (33%), trade (27%) and manufacturing (17.7%) — together around 78% of the total. The investment activity is also supporting the ICT sector (5.2%), real estate market (about 5 percent); transport, storage and logistics (3.6%) and energy (3.1%).
The FDI reached over €5 billion (data from the end of 2025), equivalent to about 30 percent of GDP and around €2,257 per inhabitant; the FDIs accounted for 38.8% of total external liabilities, representing a significant component of the financing resources in national economy.
As Nat. Bejan, director of Invest Moldova Agency noted, about 85% of country’s FDI equity capital originated from the EU member states.
More in: https://mbw.md/
= Foreign trade. The country’s economy is strongly integrated into the international markets: thus, exports of goods totaled approximately €3.340 billion in 2025, with the growth rate of over six percent; while export in services totaled €2,85 bl. The European Union absorbed presently about 67.5% of exports, compared with 58.6% in 2022, while the share of the CIS-countries fell to 5.9%. The main export destinations are Romania, Türkiye, Italy, Czechia and Ukraine.
More in: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/moldova/#finance
= Services. Exports of services totaled € 2.835 million in 2025, generating a surplus of € 918 million, a structural counterweight to the deficit in trade in goods. Exports of computer services totaled €743 million, equivalent to around 4 percent of GDP, while the surplus of this category amounted to €634 million. Hence, the ICT’s sector has been the single largest contributor to economic growth in recent two years.
Additional source: https://invest.gov.md/en/moldova-business-week-2026-investment-export-business-opportunities/
= Human capital. The average gross monthly wage has been at about €790 in 2025, up about 2 percent in real terms. In the ICT-sector average earning was approximately €1,825; employment totaled 774 thousand people, with an unemployment rate of 3.8%. Higher education enrolled 62.9 thousand students in the 2025/2026 academic year, rising for the second consecutive year, while technical vocational education enrolled 50.3 thousand.
Source and citations from: https://invest.gov.md/en/economic-overview-2/
= Taxation. Personal income tax – 12%; social security -24% for employer; health Insurance – 9% for employee; dividends- 6% for residents and non-residents; 7% -single tax on turnover; royalties- 12%; and VAT- 20% as a standard rate; 8% -for HORECA; 6% – for natural gases; 8% for pharmaceuticals; but international transportation is free of charges.
Corporate income tax – 12% for reinvested income; 7% – in agricultural income; some changes occurred in the former seven free zones with the tax-reduction; presently they seized to exist.
There are over fifty operational Tax Treaties for Avoidance of Double Taxation concluded by Moldova with other jurisdictions.
Main source: https://invest.gov.md/en/operational-costs/
Import-export facilities
Since 2022, the European Union has been Moldova’s primary trading partner, with Moldovan exports to the EU reaching about $ 2.53 billion (49,3% of total exports). The EU and the Republic of Moldova signed an Association Agreement in June 2014 and the agreement has been in full effect since July 2016; the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, DCFTA is an integral part of the Agreement. It reduces tariffs that European firms face when exporting to Moldova and makes customs procedures more efficient. In addition, the agreement facilitates trade further by gradual approximation of Moldovan legislation, rules and procedures, including standards, to those of the EU.
Reference to: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/content/deep-and-comprehensive-free-trade-agreements; and in: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/content/eu-moldova-deep-and-comprehensive-free-trade-area
Leading export categories include machinery and electrical appliances, foodstuffs and beverages, cereals and oils, textiles and furniture. Conversely, imports from the EU, predominantly mineral fuels, machinery and chemicals, rose to € 4.36 billion, marking a 38.6% increase in 2022 alone.
Duty-free exports mainly proceed to the EU-27, CIS and the Balkan States; the Generalized System of Preferences include the USA and Japan. Interestingly enough, Moldova plays avital role in the global agrifood market: it has the largest wine cellar and takes a leading position in the density of vineyards; as well as the fife place in plums export and the nineth place in cherries.
More on export-import in the special website at: https://diaspora.invest.gov.md/; although it is in Romanian/Moldovan language.
Trade deficit. Moldova’s trade deficit widened to $ 613.4 million in July 2026, from $ 558.1 million in the same month a year earlier, although the deficit narrowed for a third consecutive month. Imports rose 8.1% year-on-year to $ 978.2 million, driven by higher purchases from CIS countries (11.6%) and the EU – 1.8%. Meanwhile, exports increased by about five percent to $ 364.8 million, supported by a 45.8% surge in shipments to CIS countries, while exports to the EU declined by about two percent.
Source and reference to: https://tradingeconomics.com/moldova/balance-of-trade
Moldova’s imports -mainly from the EU- amounts to about €4.7 billion; key imports are machinery and appliances, energy, and products of the chemical or related industries. Generally, the EU-27 accounted for over half of its total trade in goods in 2025 (being Moldova’s biggest trade partner), which generated a turnover of over €7 billion. The second Moldova’s trading partner is China accounting for over 13% of its trade exchange, followed by Ukraine (10%).
Source: https://invest.gov.md/en/trade-potential-2/
The EU’s growing network of trade agreements helps European businesses to access new international export markets and creates a more predictable trade and investment environment. At the end of 2025, the EU had concluded 44 preferential trade agreements with 76 countries, representing 46.3% of the EU’s external trade. Trade in goods with these partner countries grew faster than the EU’s total trade with other third countries. In 2025, EU trade agreements played a significant role in providing stable import sources of raw materials and energy products of strategic importance to the EU economy.
More on the “EU trade agreements continue to benefit European businesses” in:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1983