Distillers Moldova
A one-page guide to Moldova for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Chisinau
- Official languages
- Romanian
- Currency
- Moldovan leu (MDL)
- Time zone
- UTC+2 (UTC+3 summer)
- Area
- 33,843 km²
People
- Population
- 2.4 million (2025)
- Population growth
- -1.8% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 43.7%
- Aged under 15
- 19.5%
- Aged 65 and over
- 16.9%
- Life expectancy
- 71.3 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$20.4 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$8,622 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 2.4% (2025)
- Inflation
- 7.8% (2025)
Climate
Moderately continental: warm, long summers averaging about 20 C, mild dry winters (January about -4 C), rainfall 400-600 mm a year; about 300 sunny days a year suit vineyards.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18 for sale/service (minors are not barred from buying or drinking)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 11.1 litres of pure alcohol (2019)
- What people drink
- Beer 24.2%, wine 37.6%, spirits 35.8%, other 2.5% (2019)
- Traditional drinks
- Divin (national brandy, cognac-method), Home-made wine from village plots
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wine of Moldova (Wikipedia); Moldova (Wikipedia); Legal drinking age; World Bank country data; WHO Global status report on alcohol and health 2024 (via Wikipedia table); UN Comtrade public API, HS 2208; PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Moldova - other taxes; EntryBrief: Moldova customs allowances (secondary; cites national customs). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.