Morocco outperforms its North African counterparts in economic freedom

In the latest Index of Economic Freedom issued by the American Heritage Foundation, Morocco has secured a commendable 97th rank with a total score of 58.4 points. Outperforming its North African counterparts, Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria, who have been ranked 132nd, 151st, and 168th, respectively.

While Morocco’s score has dipped by 0.8 points from the previous year, it has managed to retain its position as the top-performing North African country in the rankings. In fact, the Kingdom has secured the seventh position out of 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, which is a significant accomplishment.

The report attributes Morocco’s gradual and remarkable progress to its economic reforms, which have encouraged the dynamism of the private sector, improved competitiveness, and diversified its productive base. These commendable efforts have propelled Morocco towards the global average score.

However, the report has raised concerns about the external challenges that Morocco faces and called for deep institutional reforms. Specifically, the report has criticized the inflexibility of Morocco’s labor market, especially in sectors lacking structure, which have yet to be included in the formal economic fabric.

The report also delves into the sub-indicators that have contributed to Morocco’s ranking, including the rule of law index, which examines the intellectual property protection standard, the judicial effectiveness index, and the government integrity standard. Morocco has scored 57.1 points, 32.8 points, and 38.7 points, respectively, in these indices.

Furthermore, the report has evaluated the organizational efficiency sub-indicator, which assesses the standard of freedom of doing business, freedom of action, and monetary freedom, scoring Morocco 65.3 points, 47.6 points, and 78.3 points, respectively.

The openness of markets sub-indicator has also been considered, which evaluates the standard of freedom of trade, investment freedom, and financial freedom, giving Morocco scores of 64.4 points, 65 points, and 70 points, respectively.

Lastly, the report has assessed the government size index, which is based on the tax burden criterion, where Morocco scored 67.9 points, government spending criterion, where it scored 72 points, and the financial health criterion, where it scored 70 points.