Morocco Unemployment Rate Falls: What the Numbers Really Hide
Morocco’s unemployment rate fell from 13% to 10.8% with the implementation of a new HCP survey. This dramatic drop does not mean, however, that hundreds of thousands of people have found jobs. It is mainly the result of a new way of counting the unemployed.
The High Commission for Planning replaced, in the first quarter of 2026, its old National Employment Survey with a new Labor Force Survey, aligned with the standards of the International Labour Organization, according to the World Bank in its latest report.
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With the old method, Morocco showed an unemployment rate of 13% in 2025. The new survey brings it down to 10.8%. However, the World Bank warns that the comparison should be interpreted with caution: part of the decline comes from the statistical reclassification of people who want to work but are no longer actively seeking employment.
To now be considered unemployed, a person must simultaneously meet three conditions. They must not have done any paid work during the week studied, must have actively sought employment in the four weeks preceding and must be able to start work within two weeks.
People who want to work but do not meet all these criteria are removed from unemployment in the strict sense. They are classified in a new category called "potential labor force". Discouraged workers, who have given up searching after unsuccessful attempts, are particularly affected.
The definition of employment has also been tightened. Only activities carried out in exchange for a salary or profit are now counted. Unpaid family help and certain people producing mainly for their own subsistence are now classified separately.
The Decline Hides 884,000 Discouraged Workers
This new presentation lowers the official unemployment rate, but it reveals in parallel a much greater underutilization of work. In the first quarter of 2026, Morocco had 884,000 people wanting to work but who had stopped actively seeking employment. The majority of them lived in urban areas.
By reintegrating them into a broader measure, the rate is no longer 10.8%, but 17.1%. By also adding people who work less than they would like, the overall underutilization of the labor force reaches 22.5%.
The situation appears even more difficult for young people and women. The measure including the unemployed and potential labor force rises to 40.4% among young people and 27.9% among women.
The new method also brings the general activity rate from 43.5% to 41.8%. For women, it falls from 19% to 17.5%. According to the World Bank, these decreases do not reflect a sudden deterioration in the labor market, but the reclassification of certain categories that were previously integrated into the active population.
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The rate of 10.8% therefore does not mean that unemployment has suddenly declined in Morocco. It corresponds to a stricter definition, while the new indicators separately show those who lack work, work too little or have ended up giving up looking for it.
