Morocco Risks Growing Old Before Rich as Youth Labor Underutilization Hits 45.3%

1 articles · Updated · en.hespress.com · Aug 6

A new report says Morocco’s 4.9% growth in 2025 is failing to translate into jobs and living-standard gains for many young people, raising the risk that it will miss its demographic dividend.
Morocco created about 193,000 net jobs in 2025, barely half the roughly 370,000 needed each year, while labor-force participation stood at 41.8% in early 2026 and women’s participation at 17.5%.
Youth strain is sharper still: labor underutilization reached 45.3% among 15- to 24-year-olds, and about 2.94 million young Moroccans—roughly one in three—were not in employment, education or training.
The report says an “experience trap” blocks hiring, with more than 56% of respondents educated beyond high school citing lack of work experience as their main obstacle to finding work.
In M’diq-Fnideq near Ceuta, where unemployment hit 29% in 2024, the report links attempted crossings to years of economic frustration worsened by the loss of informal cross-border trade.