Morocco records a slight increase in activity rate at the beginning of 2025
The High Commission for Planning revealed a slight increase in the activity rate during the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, rising from 42.6% to 42.9%, a gain of 0.3 points. This improvement is attributed to a 1.4% rise in the population of working-age individuals (aged 15 and above), alongside a 2% increase in the actively employed within the same age group.
This increase was more pronounced in urban areas, where the activity rate grew by 0.4 points, moving from 41.1% to 41.5%, while it remained stable in rural areas at 45.6%.
The national employment rate also increased by 0.5 points, reaching 37.2% compared to 36.7% during the same period last year. This rate saw significant improvement in urban settings, where it rose from 33.8% to 34.6%, while it slightly declined in rural areas from 42.5% to 42.3%. The employment rate among men increased from 59.5% to 60.1%, and for women, it rose from 14.6% to 14.8%.
The country saw the creation of 282,000 new jobs, most of which were concentrated in urban areas, totaling 285,000 positions, compared to a loss of 3,000 jobs in rural areas. In terms of job nature, 319,000 paid jobs were created, distributed between 299,000 in urban areas and 21,000 in rural areas, while unpaid jobs saw a loss of 37,000 positions due to a decline of 13,000 in urban areas and 24,000 in rural regions.
Job creation was recorded across all sectors except for agriculture, forestry, and fishing, which lost 72,000 positions, a decrease of 3% of total employment in this sector.
The services sector created 216,000 new jobs, a 4% increase, with 156,000 in urban areas and 60,000 in rural areas. This growth primarily stemmed from “social services provided to the community” with 74,000 positions, and “financial activities, insurance, real estate, scientific, technical, and administrative support services” with 66,000 positions, along with “trade” which added 48,000 positions.
The industry sector added 83,000 new jobs, a 6% increase, with 80,000 in urban areas and 3,000 in rural regions. Additionally, the construction and public works sector created 52,000 positions, including 46,000 in urban areas and 5,000 in rural areas, also recording a 4% growth in employment.
