Rabat: In 2025, the unemployment rate stood at 13%, marking a slight improvement of 0.3 percentage points compared with the previous year, according to Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP).
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, this decline was observed both in rural and urban areas. In rural regions, unemployment fell from 6.8% to 6.6%, while in cities it dropped more noticeably, from 16.9% to 16.4%. Overall, the number of unemployed people decreased by 17,000, bringing the total to 1,621 million.
Unemployment among women increased sharply, rising by 1.1 points to 20.5%, while it declined among men, falling by 0.8 points to 10.8%.
Age also played a decisive role. With the exception of young people aged 15 to 24, whose unemployment rate climbed by 0.5 points to 37.2%, all other age groups experienced slight declines. Among those aged 25 to 34, unemployment edged down to 20.9%. For people aged 35 to 44, it fell to 7.2%, and for those 45 and older, it dropped to 3.6%.
Education level showed a sim
ilar contrast. Unemployment among graduates decreased by 0.5 points to 19.1%, while it also fell among people without any diploma, reaching 4.7%.
The most significant improvements were recorded among holders of technical and mid-level management diplomas, whose unemployment rate dropped by 2.3 points to 24%, followed by those with professional qualification diplomas, down 1.9 points to 22%.
Despite these gains, unemployment in 2025 was increasingly marked by first-time job seekers and long-term unemployment. The share of unemployed people who had never worked before rose from 49.3% to 52.9%, while those unemployed for one year or more increased from 62.4% to 64.8%. As a result, the average duration of unemployment lengthened from 31 to 33 months.
For many, unemployment followed a major transition. About 36.6% became unemployed after finishing or leaving education or training, while 25.4% lost their jobs due to layoffs or business closures.
At the same time, 47.1% of unemployed people had worked previously
. The vast majority of them lived in urban areas (81.3%), were men (75.4%), and were young, with 58.1% aged between 15 and 34.
Nearly three quarters of this group held a diploma-46% at an intermediate level and 29% at a higher level. Most were former wage earners (86.7%), while 12.2% had been self-employed. Over half had worked in the services sector, followed by industry and construction and public works (BTP).