Morocco’s unemployment rate increases by 29%, bringing the unemployed total to 1.4 million in 2020 (HCP)

The High Commission for Planning (HCP) has recently revealed that the number of unemployed people has increased by 322,000 between 2019 and 2020, bringing up the unemployed total from 1,107,000 to 1,429,000, marking an increase of 29 %.

“Records stipulate that the number of unemployed people in urban areas has increased by 224,000, against 98,000 in rural areas, most of whom have prior work experiences”, said the HCP, in a note made public, on Tuesday.

This new increase in unemployment rates, is mainly reflected among young people, women and fresh graduates.

After a downward trend over the past three years, the unemployment rate has increased by 2.7 points between 2019 and 2020, moving from 9.2% to 11.9%.

The evolution of Morocco’s unemployment rate between 2017 and 2020 (in%)

Between 2019 and 2020, Morocco’s unemployment rate increased in both rural and urban areas, respectively from 3.7% to 5.9% and from 12.9% to 15.8%. Likewise, unemployment rates increased among both men and women, respectively from 7.8% to 10.7%, and from 13.5% to 16.2%.

This increase in unemployment rates affected all age groups, but more importantly young people aged 15 to 24, for their relative unemployment rate increased by 6.2 points, going from 24.9% to 31.2%.