Slight Drop in Unemployment Accompanied by Rising Job Insecurity in Morocco
Unemployment rates in Morocco saw a minor decrease in 2025; however, official data from the High Commission for Planning revealed a continued fragility in the labor market, particularly among youth, women, and graduates, alongside a concerning rise in underemployment.
The employment market report indicated a drop in the number of jobless individuals by 17,000 between 2024 and 2025, reducing the total from 1.638 million to 1.621 million unemployed persons, which led to a decrease in the unemployment rate from 13.3% to 13%, marking a 0.3-point decline.
The figures displayed a clear disparity between urban and rural areas; the unemployment rate in cities fell from 16.9% to 16.4%, while the rural decline was modest, decreasing from 6.8% to 6.6%, reflecting more of a temporary improvement than a structural one.
Data revealed that youth aged 15 to 24 continued to be the most affected group, with their unemployment rate rising from 36.7% to 37.2%, unlike other age groups which saw varying declines. The unemployment rate among graduates remained high, albeit with a slight decrease from 19.6% to 19.1%.
Women also experienced a troubling rise in the unemployment rate by 1.1 points, increasing from 19.4% to 20.5%, compared to a 0.8-point drop among men, highlighting ongoing challenges in the integration of women into the labor market.
The report highlighted the growing long-term nature of unemployment, with the proportion of jobless individuals who had never worked before rising from 49.3% to 52.9%, and long-term unemployment increasing from 62.4% to 64.8%. Additionally, the average duration of job searching rose from 31 to 33 months, indicating increased difficulties in professional integration, especially for new graduates.
Conversely, the national economy created 193,000 jobs in 2025, up from 82,000 in 2024; however, this development coincided with a loss of 10,000 positions in rural areas, offset by the creation of 203,000 jobs in urban settings. There were also 249,000 paid positions created against a loss of 55,000 unpaid roles.
The services sector led job creation with 123,000 positions, followed by construction and public works with 64,000, and industry with 46,000, while agriculture continued to suffer a net loss of 41,000 jobs.
Alongside this slight decline in unemployment, underemployment showed a significant increase, with the number of workers in precarious situations rising from 1.082 million to 1.190 million, and its rate escalating from 10.1% to 10.9% nationally, and from 12.2% to 13.2% in rural areas.
