The High Commission for Planning (HCP) indicated on Tuesday that around half (48.2%) of the Moroccan workforce lacks formal education or has only basic qualifications.
The figure jumps to a staggering 71.6% in rural areas.
The report also showcased that roughly two-thirds of the self-employed (65.8%) lack formal qualifications, with 27.8% of them holding a secondary diploma and only 6.4% possessing a higher degree.
In 2023, the population of working age (15 years and above) reached 27,888,000 individuals. Among them, 12,171,000 were economically active, including 10,591,000 employed and 1,580,000 unemployed, while the remaining 15,717,000 were outside the labor market.
The report further noted that the active population between the years 2022 and 2023 witnessed a 0.2% drop, with an increase of 1.8% in urban areas and a decrease of 3.5% in rural areas. This decline coincided with a 1.4% increase in the population of working age (15 years and above), which led to a 0.7 percentage point decrease in the labor force participation rate to 43.6%.
In comparison to urban regions, where it decreased by 0.1 points from 41.9% to 41.8%, the activity rate in rural areas declined (-1.8 points) from 49.1% to 47.3%.
However, the decline was prevalent among women, decreasing by 0.8 percentage points to 19% in 2023, compared to 69% for men (-0.6 percentage points).
Approximately 11% of employed workers are engaged in unpaid work, adds the report. This type of work is more common in rural areas (24.6%) than in urban areas (2.2%), and prevalent among women (28.5%) than men (6.4%).
The HCP further noted that young individuals aged under 25 are more likely to be engaged in unpaid work, at a rate of 33.5%, compared to 7.5% for those aged 45 and over. Additionally, those without a diploma are more likely to work unpaid—at a rate of 14.7% vs 7.4% for those with a diploma.
More than half of the employees (51.9%) do not have a formal employment contract regulating their relationship with their employer, and only 6.5% have an oral agreement.
The proportion of employees without a contract increases to 72.5% in rural areas and 44.4% in urban areas. This figure is estimated at 36.2% for women compared to 55.9% for men.
Young people aged 15-24 and individuals without any formal qualifications remain more prone to working without a contract, at rates of 69.6% and 71.5%, respectively.
The HCP also pointed out that an analysis of the characteristics of the active population demonstrated that it is increasingly urbanized. In 2023, nearly 63.5% of the active population resided in urban areas.
The percentage of females within the active population decreased from 22.6% in 2022 to 22.1% in 2023. This decline was more pronounced in rural areas, falling from 22.9% to 20.7%.
As for the youth population, defined as those aged 35 and under, it accounted for 39.6% of the total active population in 2023, with 40.5% residing in urban areas and 38.2% in rural areas. This compares to 8.9% for those aged 60 and over, with 13% living in rural areas and 6.5% in urban areas.
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