The Republic of Moldova is blessed with a mild climate, bucolic landscapes, popular wine, and empty villages. Moldovans are leaving en masse; their country now has one of the fastest shrinking populations in the world. Poverty, constant political upheaval, and deeply embedded corruption have convinced many to buy a one-way ticket. Some become seasonal economic migrants, returning for a few months every year. Others, many of them highly educated, prefer to leave for good. According to a UNFPA study from 2016, if no effective measures are taken by Moldova’s government to improve the quality of life, in 15 years the country’s population, estimated at just under three million, could decline by 24 per cent.

The Republic of Moldova is blessed with a mild climate, bucolic landscapes, popular wine, and empty villages. Moldovans are leaving en masse; their country now has one of the fastest shrinking populations in the world. Poverty, constant political upheaval, and deeply embedded corruption have convinced many to buy a one-way ticket. Some become seasonal economic migrants, returning for a few months every year. Others, many of them highly educated, prefer to leave for good. According to a UNFPA study from 2016, if no effective measures are taken by Moldova’s government to improve the quality of life, in 15 years the country’s population, estimated at just under three million, could decline by 24 per cent.