Morocco’s Unemployment Rate Sees Modest Decline to 13.3% Amid Mixed Regional and Youth Trends

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Morocco’s national unemployment rate edged down slightly in the first quarter of the year, falling from 13.7% to 13.3%, with the number of unemployed individuals totalling 1.63 million. This marginal improvement was mainly due to a reduction of 40,000 unemployed in urban areas, partially offset by an increase of 25,000 in rural regions.

According to the High Commission for Planning, the unemployment rate for men dropped by 0.5 points to 11.5%, and for women by 0.2 points to 19.9%. However, youth unemployment among those aged 15–24 worsened, rising by 1.8 points to 37.7%.

Other age groups saw declines: 25–34-year-olds dropped to 21.2%, 35–44-year-olds to 7.5%, and those aged 45 and above to 3.9%. The rate for individuals with educational qualifications also fell to 19.4%, notably among those with technical and vocational training.

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Labour force participation increased slightly by 0.3 points to 42.9%, driven by a rise in the working-age and active populations, particularly in urban areas. Regionally, five areas accounted for 70% of all unemployed, with the highest rates in the Oriental (25.2%) and southern (23.8%) regions. Casablanca-Settat and Fès-Meknès both reported unemployment rates above the national average, while Drâa-Tafilalet and Marrakech-Safi had the lowest.