- In Morocco, higher education has expanded, but labour-market outcomes remain weak. Youth (aged 18-35) are more educated than previous generations. More than half (56%) have post-secondary education, compared to 9%-27% among older cohorts. But one in five youth (21%) are not employed and are actively looking for jobs – triple the rate among 36- to 45-year-olds (7%). Only one in four (25%) have full-time jobs. Youth identify a mismatch between education and job requirements (34%) and a lack of experience (18%) as the main obstacles to youth employment. If the government could increase its spending on programmes to help youth, job creation would be young people’s top priority for greater investment.
- Unemployment also tops the list of important problems that youth say their government must address, followed by the increasing cost of living, drought, and education.
- On their top priorities, youth express critical views of their government’s performance. Only 20% approve of the government’s efforts to create jobs, and even fewer (14%) commend its performance on keeping prices stable.
- Despite economic strain, youth remain broadly optimistic: 73% say Morocco is moving in “the right direction,” and 54% expect economic conditions to improve in the next year.
- Even so, more than one in four youth (28%) say they have thought “a lot” about emigrating, up from 20% in 2017.
More than half of Morocco’s population is under the age of 35, positioning youth at the centre of the country’s development agenda (United States Census Bureau, 2025). As this demographic continues to grow, so do expectations around access to education, employment, and social mobility. However, these expectations are often met with limited opportunity. Job creation has not kept pace with the expanding working-age population, resulting in a widening gap between the number of young people entering the labour force and the availability of meaningful employment (Population Reference Bureau, 2019; World Bank, 2017).
Morocco ranks 82nd out of 183 countries – third-best in Africa – in the 2023 Global Youth Development Index (Commonwealth, 2024), which assesses countries based on a range of social, political, economic, health, and education measures. Yet roughly one in three young Moroccans are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), leaving a significant portion of the population excluded from both the formal economy and skills-building opportunities (Alfani, Clementi, Fabiani, Molini, & Valentini, 2023). Unemployment among youth aged 15-24 rose from 35.9% to 37.7% in the first quarter of 2025, highlighting the continued challenges of absorbing new labour-market entrants, even as overall joblessness declined (Hespress English, 2025).
In response, the government has introduced initiatives such as the Economic Inclusion Programme for Youth, which aims to promote entrepreneurship and skills development (World Bank, 2019). While efforts like this represent important steps toward addressing youth unemployment, the scale of the problem suggests that much more is needed to bridge the gap between Morocco’s young population and the economic opportunities they need to thrive.
Findings from the Afrobarometer Round 10 survey (2024) confirm the disconnect between educational progress and labour-market outcomes. Moroccan youth are more educated than previous generations, yet many struggle to find employment. Job creation ranks as the top policy priority for youth. But despite economic pressures and rising interest in emigration, many remain hopeful and invested in the country’s future.
