Morocco study estimates 25% of young men out of work
A recent study published by a Moroccan news website is grim reading as it highlights unemployment in the country – which is reaching a crisis point and is becoming a chief concern of the government urgently seeking foreign investors to tackle it head on
Data from the High Commissioner for Planning revealed on the 13th of February that more than one young man out of four between the ages of 15 and 24 years (25.2% or 1.5 million), at the national level, does not work, is not in school and has not had any formal training. The study also found that about 72.8% of those out of work are women, 40.6% of whom are married, with 68.2% having a school certificate, according to the Moroccan website Al-Youm 24.
If this figure of 25% is put in context, it shows that it is the youth who are more the victims in the economic demise which Morocco is climbing out of as tourism revenues slowly rise following the covid crisis.
According to Statista.com In 2021, the unemployment rate in Morocco remained nearly unchanged at around 11.47 percent. However, 2021 marked the fourth consecutive increase of the unemployment rate.
During the year 2022, the population of adults, who, in theory are physically able to work reached 27.5 million people, with 12.2 million of those “active” (10.7 million employed and 1.4 million unemployed).
According to the same data, which polled people aged between 15 and 32, nearly three-quarters of the inactive (73.1%) are women, 68.8% live in urban areas, more than half (51.1%) do not have any degree, the report concludes.
On the other hand, among the 5.9 million youth between the ages of 15 and 24, 15.4% are employed (905,000), 7.4% are looking for a job (439,000), while 77.2% are outsiders. The labour market is 4.6 million, while three-quarters of the youth outside the labor market (77%) and 19.6% representing housewives.
