Morocco sees unemployment rise to 21.3% in 10 years

Morocco announced yesterday that the unemployment rate in the country has risen to 21.3 per cent in the past 10 years. The announcement was made at a press conference in the capital Rabat by Chakib Benmoussa, the High Commissioner for Planning, as he presented the detailed results of the general population and housing census for 2024.

The Kingdom organised the census for the seventh time in its history in September. It is conducted every 10 years, and its initial results were published last month.

“During the period between 2014 and 2024, the overall unemployment rate rose from 16.2 per cent to 21.3 per cent,” noted Benmoussa. “The rate rose from 19.3 to 21.2 per cent in urban areas, and from 10.5 to 21.4 per cent in rural areas.”

The unemployment rate for women in 2024 stands at 25.9 per cent compared with 29.6 per cent in 2014, said the Moroccan official, and 20.1 per cent among men this year compared with 12.4 per cent in 2014.

“Moreover, around four out of ten people over the age of 15 — 41.6 per cent — are engaging in economic activity in 2024, compared with 47.6 per cent in 2014.”

The highest unemployment rates were recorded in Guelmim-Oued Noun (Sahara region) and Beni Mellal-Khenifra (north) at 26.8 per cent; Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra (Sahara region) at 26.6 per cent, and in Fez-Meknes (north) at 23.3 per cent, said Benmoussa.

Morocco’s draft budget projects that the country’s economy will grow by 4.6 per cent, with an inflation rate of about two per cent in 2025.

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