Singerei District
Population collapsed 30% (2014-24); 70 localities, 6,525 companies, agricultural economy—one of Moldova's highest shares of young population at risk of exodus.
Between 1944 and 1991, this district carried the name Lazovsky—a Soviet designation erased when Moldova reclaimed its Romanian linguistic heritage. The original name, Sîngerei, first appears in documents from 17 May 1586, placing the administrative center among Moldova's oldest continuously inhabited settlements. Today 70 localities spread across the district, 126 kilometers from Chișinău, supporting 6,525 registered companies on an economy of agriculture and food processing.
The population arithmetic is stark: 79,814 in 2014, 55,933 in 2024—a 30% collapse in a single decade. The agricultural portfolio remains intact—cereals, vegetables, tobacco, sunflower, sugar beet, apples, plums, cherries—but the people who work the land are leaving. Local wineries contribute to Moldova's national wine production, and sand, clay, and gravel extraction serves construction, yet these activities cannot generate wages competitive with Chișinău or EU labor markets. The average monthly salary of 9,140 MDL sits below the national average.
By 2026, Sîngerei's demographic trajectory will determine its economic future. The district holds one of Moldova's highest shares of population below working age—a potential workforce if employment exists, an exodus-in-waiting if it doesn't. Bălți municipality to the northwest and Chișinău to the southeast offer urban alternatives; whether young workers commute, migrate, or stay depends on investment that has not yet arrived.