Casablanca – Almost three out of every ten jobless Moroccans (29.7%) are young people, according to a new report by Morocco’s High Commissioner for Planning (HCP) marking International Youth Day, commemorated on August 12.
The national unemployment rate for young individuals aged 15 to 24 years is 31.8%, compared to 13.7% for people aged 25 to 44 years and 3.8% for those aged 45 and more, according to this HCP study.
In Morocco, the unemployment rate for young individuals aged 15 to 24 with a higher education degree is 61.2%, the HCP confirmed. While it is 30.4% for young people with a middle-level diploma and 12.9% for those with no diploma.
According to the report, the youth unemployment rate is higher in urban areas and among young women. It reaches a peak of 46.7% in urban areas and 15.9% in rural areas. Young women have a 13 percentage point greater unemployment rate than males (41.9% against 28.4%), the HCP noted.
The HCP also pointed out that youth unemployment includes both long-term unemployment and difficulties in gaining first-time entry into the labor market. The report found that 70.4% of jobless youngsters have been out of work for a year or longer, and nearly three-quarters (73.4%) have never worked.
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According to the HCP, Morocco has 5.9 million young people aged 15 to 24, accounting for 16.2% of the overall population in 2021. 50.9% of these young individuals are male, 59.9% live in urban areas, and 56.6% are aged 15 to 19, the same source detailed.
More than 6 out of 10 young people (64.6%) have a diploma of medium level, 20.6% a diploma of higher level, and 14.8% have no degree, the HCP report revealed.
The populous Casablanca-Settat region has nearly one-fifth (19.1%) of young people aged 15 to 24 years, while Marrakech-Safi has 13.6%, followed by Rabat-Sale-Kenitra (13.1%) and Fez-Meknes (12.2%), the study concluded.
