Employment: Morocco faces labor force participation ceiling

193,000 net jobs were created in 2025. This performance is real, but it does not alter the overall balance: the labor market remains tight in view of demographic dynamics. The labor force participation rate remains at 43.5% and the employment rate stands at 37.8%. In concrete terms, less than four out of ten people of working age are in employment. The debate is therefore no longer solely about unemployment. It concerns the proportion of the population that is actually in work.
At the regional level, the World Bank points out that the working-age population in the MENAAP region will continue to grow in the coming decades, while job creation is slowing down. If participation does not increase, demographic pressure is likely to weigh more heavily than it will support growth.
In 2025, the labor force participation rate will reach 42.2% in urban areas, compared to 46.1% in rural areas. Rural areas will remain at a higher level, but will decline slightly. Urban areas will see little growth. Employment dynamics, on the other hand, will be mainly urban: the employment rate will rise by 0.4 points to 35.3%, while it will fall to 43% in rural areas. Agriculture continues to lose jobs. Job creation is concentrated in services, industry, and construction. The national employment rate rose from 37.7% to 37.8%. This marginal increase masks significant disparities. Among men, the employment rate stands at 61.1%, while among women it is only 15.1%. The gap exceeds 45 points. In other words, six out of ten men work, compared to barely 15% of women of working age.
The divide is also geographical. In urban areas, the employment rate is 35.3%. In rural areas, it stands at 43%, but is declining. Job creation certainly improves annual flows without significantly changing the proportion of the population actually integrated into the economy.
With an activity rate of less than 45%, the majority of the working-age population remains outside the labor market. This situation limits the expansion of the tax base and slows average productivity.
The labor force participation rate for men is 68.5%, compared to 19% for women. The gap is close to 50 points. The causes are structural: the weight of social norms, unpaid domestic work, insufficient childcare services, mobility constraints, concentration in the informal sector, and a mismatch between training and local job opportunities.
The MENAAP report indicates that reducing barriers to women’s employment could increase GDP per capita by 20-30% in some comparable economies. Even if Morocco captured only a fraction of this, the impact would represent several percentage points of GDP in the medium term. But maintaining a female labor force participation rate of 19% means operating below its potential. o

Khadija MASMOUDI