Covid-19 Mortality Shock: Demographic and Economic Losses in Moldova

Abstract

This contribution discusses the problem of Covid-19 demographic and economic losses in Moldova. Although the pandemic is now no longer in the headlines, it is essential to understand how severe it was in Southeastern Europe. To illustrate this, the present study uses the example of the Republic of Moldova as a country with relatively high excess mortality. The Covid-19 mortality pattern in Moldova appears typical for the Eastern European and post-Soviet countries, with a decline in life expectancy for 2020–2021 and a more substantial decline for women. One of the main explanations for this pattern is the failure of the vaccination campaign, partly due to the population’s lack of trust in the healthcare system. The National Transfer Accounts approach is suggested to estimate economic losses. As a reference country for comparing the pandemic losses in Moldova, the present study uses Serbia, which was also strongly affected by the pandemic.