Morocco's living poverty rate falls to 22%, but 8 million remain affected

Morocco recorded a six-percentage-point drop in lived poverty over the past decade, but about 22% of its population still experiences moderate or high levels of deprivation, according to a new Afrobarometer report.

The report ranks Morocco among the three African countries with the lowest rates of lived poverty, behind Seychelles (7%) and Mauritius (12%).

The 22% rate means roughly 8 million people remain affected, based on Morocco’s population of about 37 million.

Afrobarometer’s latest findings show that Morocco was among only five countries to record a significant decline in lived poverty between 2014/2015 and 2024/2025. The other four were Lesotho, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania.

The improvement comes as lived poverty has increased across much of Africa, with 22 of the 30 countries surveyed over the decade recording a rise of at least three percentage points.

The survey measures lived poverty through how often households go without five basic necessities: food, clean water, medical care, cooking fuel and cash income.

In Morocco, 12% of respondents said they frequently went without cash income, while 7% reported repeated shortages of medicine or medical care.

Water shortages affected 3%, while 2% reported frequently going without cooking fuel and 1% without enough food.

These figures cover respondents who said they went without these necessities many times or always during the previous year.

Across the 38 African countries covered by the latest survey, 60% of respondents experienced moderate or high lived poverty. Chad recorded the highest rate at 86%, followed by Gabon at 81% and Madagascar at 80%.

The situation has worsened over the past decade, with moderate and high lived poverty rising by an average of 13 percentage points across 30 countries surveyed in both 2014/2015 and 2024/2025.

Nigeria and Namibia recorded the sharpest increases, both climbing by 41 percentage points, followed by South Africa, where the rate rose by 25 points.

Afrobarometer also found that material hardship is closely linked to employment, education and access to public services.

Across the surveyed countries, 66% of people without jobs experienced moderate or high lived poverty, compared with 48% of employed respondents. The rate was also higher among rural residents, reaching 68%, compared with 53% in urban areas.

Access to health care remains another major concern. Among respondents experiencing high lived poverty, 63% said they had difficulty obtaining medical care, compared with 31% of those reporting no lived poverty.