Morocco unemployment climbs to 10.5%, 1.22 million jobless
Morocco's HCP reports that the unemployment rate climbed to 10.5% in Q3 2026, with 1.22 million people out of work, as young people and women bear the brunt of the rise.
Morocco's High Commission for Planning (HCP) has reported, in a labour-market note drawn from the new Labour Force Survey (EMO), that the strict unemployment rate climbed to 10.5% in the third quarter of 2026, up from 9.5% in the second quarter — a 0.9-point rise in just three months. The number of unemployed people now stands at 1.22 million, up 103,000 from the previous quarter, while employment fell by 173,000 jobs (-1.6%) to 10.47 million people.
2.4 million Moroccans affected by labour underutilisation
Beyond strict unemployment, the HCP's composite labour underutilisation rate — which combines strict unemployment, the potential labour force, and time-related underemployment — rose to 19.6% from 18.9%, affecting close to 2.4 million people, an increase of 80,000 in one quarter. Of this total, 50.2% are strictly unemployed, 29.9% belong to the potential labour force, and 19.9% are in time-related underemployment.
| Indicator | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Strict unemployment rate | 9.5% | 10.5% |
| Composite underutilisation rate | 18.9% | 19.6% |
| Employment rate | 38.2% | 37.4% |
| Participation rate | 42.2% | 41.8% |
Young people and women hit hardest
Young people remain the hardest-hit group: unemployment among 15-24 year-olds jumped to 30.5% from 27.2%, the highest rate and the largest increase of any age group. Unemployment among holders of intermediate diplomas also rose by 2.1 points to 18.1%, the steepest rise by education level. By gender, women's unemployment rose to 16.7% (from 14.8%), a sharper increase than men's, which reached 8.7% (from 8.1%) — at a time when the gender wage gap reveals similar disparities in Morocco's labour market.
Wide regional disparities
Guelmim-Oued Noun remains the hardest-hit region with a 17.2% unemployment rate, followed by Drâa-Tafilalet (14.7%), the Oriental region (13.7%) and Casablanca-Settat (13%), while Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab recorded the lowest rate (4.6%), followed by Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma (6.8%). The gap in the composite underutilisation rate reaches 29.5 points between Guelmim-Oued Noun (38.7%) and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab (9.2%).
Industry, the only sector to gain jobs
By sector, industry was the only one to create jobs, adding 69,000 positions (+4.8%), while agriculture lost 145,000 (-5.6%) and services lost 96,000 (-1.8%). The HCP notes, however, that quarterly changes alone are not enough to establish structural job losses.