Women's employment in Morocco: a gap of 48 points and a global ranking of 139

Morocco ranked 139th out of 145 countries in the World Economic Forum's 2026 report on the gender gap, after two places fell from the 2025 ranking despite a slight improvement in the overall score to 0.632 out of 1, compared to 0.628 last year. The paradox of the report is that the progress made by Moroccan women in education has not been translated to the same extent into a presence in the labor market, making the economic dimension the weakest link in the path of gender equality in the Kingdom. Education Progresses and Illiteracy Morocco scored 0.958, with enrollment rates in primary, secondary and higher education reaching the gender parity threshold. However, the gap in illiteracy remains wide, as Morocco ranks 123rd globally with a score of 0.781: according to the General Population and Housing Census of 2024, on which the data of the High Commission for Planning are based, the illiteracy rate is 32.4% among women aged 10 and over, compared to 17.2% among men. The difference is remarkably narrowing at Youth, where the literacy rate reaches 96.5% for girls compared to 97.5% for boys, while it expands again in the rural world, where the literacy rate of adult women does not exceed 44.9% compared to 68.1% for men. The labor market gap: 48 points between women and men Morocco scores the weakest performance in the economic dimension among the four axes of the index, with a score of 0.424 and ranked 141 globally, and falls to 143rd in both labor market participation and income estimation. High Commission for Planning data reveals that the proportion of Economically active women did not exceed 18.1% during the second quarter of 2026, compared to 66.5% for men, a difference of 48.4 points, while women represent only 21.5% of the workforce in the Kingdom. The report notes that the level of education relatively raises the activity of women without reducing the general gap: the activity rate is 45.4% among those with a higher degree, while it does not exceed 12.8% for those with intermediate degrees and 14.4% for those without any certificate. Morocco's performance in the axes of the Gender Gap Index 2026 Point of 1 Global Ranking Education 0.958 118 Health and Survival 0.956 133 Economic participation 0.424 141 Political representation 0.188 90 Political representation Improves after the appointment of the first female prime minister On the political side, Morocco scored 0.188 points identical to the point of 2025 but advanced one place in the global ranking, with 24.3% of women in parliament and26.32% in ministerial positions approved in the index. However, the political scene witnessed a significant development after the report was issued and the legislative elections were held on 23 September. When King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima al-Zahra al-Mansouri as head of government on September 29, to be the first woman to head the government in the history of the Kingdom, which opens a new horizon for the presence of Moroccan women in political decision-making positions. These results weaken Morocco's ability to translate its educational gains into effective economic participation for women, at a time when public policies are betting on raising the rate of women's activity as one of the levers of economic growth in the coming years.