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Employment in Morocco in 2026: what the HCP’s new survey changes

The HCP’s new survey improves labour statistics but breaks with the former series. Here is what Morocco’s 2026 indicators actually mean.

5 min read
By LMOS editorial team
Young Moroccan professionals reviewing employment data in a bright workspace

Morocco introduced a new employment survey in 2026. It expands the sample, uses a more recent census frame and applies updated international labour-statistics standards. It also creates an important constraint: the results of EMO 2026 cannot be compared directly with figures published under the former national employment survey.

Any claim that employment, unemployment or participation has risen or fallen must therefore identify the method and reference period. Similar-looking percentages may otherwise describe different populations or activities.

More than a routine survey update

The Enquête sur l’emploi au Maroc, or EMO, replaces the former national employment survey. Morocco’s High Commission for Planning, known as HCP, says it incorporates the latest resolutions of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians.

One major change is the boundary of employment. People are counted as employed when they work for pay or profit. Production mainly intended for a household’s own use is monitored as another form of work. This distinction separates market employment from own-use production more clearly.

The survey also describes situations around the edge of the labour market in greater detail, including active job search, availability, underemployment and the potential labour force.

A larger, more recent sample

The annual sample increases from 90,000 to 135,000 households and uses the 2024 population and housing census as its sampling frame.

A larger sample should improve national and territorial analysis. It does not remove sampling uncertainty or seasonal effects. A quarterly result is still an estimate, rather than a census of every resident.

Readers should check which population, quarter, geographical level and indicator definition accompany each figure.

What “unemployed” means in the statistics

Under the strict definition, an unemployed person does not have a job, is available for work and has actively sought employment. Someone who wants to work but does not meet every condition may be included in the potential labour force rather than strict unemployment.

The new tables therefore make it possible to follow several levels of labour underutilisation. The unemployment rate remains important, but it cannot describe everyone who may be available for work or the quality of jobs already held.

This distinction matters when analysing young people, women and places where discouragement, care responsibilities or access constraints may prevent active job search.

The second-quarter 2026 figures

For the second quarter of 2026, HCP estimates Morocco’s labour force at 11.764 million people. The national labour-force participation rate is 42.2%. It reaches 66.5% for men and 18.1% for women.

The gender gap is therefore central to the results. The 18.1% figure does not mean that precisely that share of women are employed. Participation combines people in employment and unemployed people who are active in the labour market, as a share of the corresponding population.

The rate is 41.2% in urban areas and 44% in rural areas. These results must be considered alongside the forms of work found in each setting and the new separation between employment and own-use production.

Age and education change the picture

Participation is highest among people aged 35 to 44, at 57.7%, followed by the 25-to-34 group at 56.8%. It is much lower among 15-to-24-year-olds, at 22.9%, a group that includes many pupils and students.

Education also matters. HCP reports a participation rate of 69.4% for people with advanced qualifications, 46.3% for intermediate qualifications, 39.2% for basic qualifications and 38.1% for people without a diploma.

These differences describe participation. They do not by themselves measure job security, earnings, skills matching or career prospects.

Why older comparisons are unreliable

HCP explicitly describes a break in the series between the former survey and EMO. It has released provisional backcast indicators for 2017-2025 to help construct a methodologically consistent history.

The backcast data remain provisional. HCP plans to finalise them after incorporating annual results. A sound trend analysis must use a consistent series calculated with the same method, rather than placing a 2025 legacy-survey figure beside a 2026 EMO figure.

Any change quoted from an official release must also keep its exact comparison: quarter on quarter, year on year or a revised historical series.

What the headline indicators still miss

An employment rate does not automatically describe job quality. Contract type, social protection, working time, income, safety and satisfaction require additional measures.

National averages can also conceal large differences between regions, industries, genders and generations. Unpaid household work remains work in the broader sense even when it is outside the statistical definition of employment.

The value of EMO lies partly in this wider framework. Its usefulness will depend on regular detailed releases, accessible methodology notes and stable historical series.

How to read the next releases

  • Check whether the figure comes from EMO or the former survey.
  • Compare only periods calculated on a consistent basis.
  • Separate participation, employment, unemployment and underutilisation.
  • Read differences by gender, age, education and territory.
  • Do not confuse the number of jobs with the quality of work.
  • Keep the verification date because the 2017-2025 backcast is provisional.

This approach supports the purpose of Morocco Today: understanding the data before turning a statistical release into a verdict about the country.

Sources consulted

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