Morocco has a developing market economy. Since 1993, in line with many Western world changes, it has followed a policy of privatisation. Morocco is the 5th largest African economy by GDP (PPP) and seventh-highest GDP in the Arab world, despite not being an energy-producing country. Over the period 1971 and 2024, Morocco had annual GDP growth of 4.13% and per-capita GDP growth of 2.33%.
The economic system of the country demonstrated resilience to the climate, commodity, and pandemic shocks of the early 2020s. Since the early-1980s, the Moroccan government has pursued an economic programme toward accelerating economic growth with the support of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Paris Club of creditors. From 2018, the country's currency, the Moroccan dirham, is fully convertible for current account transactions; reforms of the financial sector have been implemented; and state enterprises are being privatised.
The services sector accounts for just over half of the GDP. The industry sector– consisting of mining, construction and manufacturing – is an additional quarter. The sectors that recorded the highest growth are the tourism, telecommunications, and textile sectors. Morocco, however, still depends to an inordinate degree on agriculture, which accounts for around 10.7% of GDP but employs 26.6% of the working population. With a semi-arid climate, it is difficult to assure good rainfall and GDP growth varies depending on the weather. Fiscal prudence has allowed for consolidation, with both the budget deficit and debt falling as a percentage of GDP. Major resources of the Moroccan economy include agriculture, tourism and Manufacturing. Industry and mining contribute about one-third of the annual GDP. Morocco is the world's third-largest producer of phosphates (after the United States and China), and the price fluctuations of phosphates on the international market can have great influence on Morocco's economy. The fishery sector is important as well, while workers' remittances have played a critical role since independence.
The high cost of imports, especially of Fossil fuels, is a major problem. Morocco suffers from structural unemployment, The unemployment rate for youth (15 to 24) was 27.2% in Q2 2026. About 80% of jobs are informal and the income gaps are very high. In 2022, Morocco ranked 120th out of 191 countries in the world on the Human Development Index (HDI), behind Algeria (93rd) and Tunisia (101st). It is the most unequal country in North Africa according to the NGO Oxfam.
External debt remains relatively low, increasing from 42.6% of GDP in 2024 to 45.1% in 2025, as the current account deficit widened and reserves accumulation accelerated, and is expected to stabilize at around 43% of GDP in the medium term.
Macro-economic trend
Morocco is a fairly stable economy with continuous growth over the past half-century. Current GDP per capita grew 47% in the 1960s, reaching a peak growth of 274% in the 1970s. However, this proved unsustainable and growth scaled back sharply to just 8.2% in the 1980s and 8.9% in the 1990s.
In recent years, Morocco's economy has demonstrated resilience amid global challenges. Real GDP growth rebounded to 3.4% in 2023, driven by a resurgence in tourism, robust manufacturing exports (notably in the automotive and aeronautics sectors), and increased private consumption. However, agricultural output contracted due to drought conditions, which lead to a projected slowdown in overall growth to 3.2% in 2024. The IMF anticipated growth to accelerate to approximately 3.9% in 2025, supported by infrastructure projects and structural reforms. Year Gross domestic product US dollar exchange Inflation index (2000=100) Per capita income (as % of USA) 1980 74,090 3.93 dirhams 33 8.87 1985 129,507 10.06 dirhams 53 3.72 1990 212,819 8.24 dirhams 67 5.17 1995 281,702 8.54 dirhams 91 5.03
Inflation significantly declined from a peak of 10.1% in early 2023 to an average of 1.5% in 2024, primarily due to falling food prices. In response, the central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, reduced the key interest rate from 3.0% to 2.75% in June 2024. The IMF projected inflation to stabilize around 2% in the medium term.
Fiscal consolidation efforts led to a reduction in the budget deficit, which decreased from 5.2% of GDP in 2022 to 4.7% in 2023. Public debt was projected to gradually decline from 69.5% of GDP in 2023 to 68.2% by 2025. The current account deficit narrowed significantly to 0.6% of GDP in 2023, the lowest level since 2007, bolstered by strong tourism revenues, manufacturing exports, and remittances. Foreign direct investment also increased, particularly in sectors like green hydrogen and electric vehicle battery components.
The unemployment rate remained elevated at 13% in 2023, with higher rates among youth (35.8%), women (18.3%), and recent graduates (19.7%). Additionally, the poverty rate increased from 3% in 2021 to 4.9% in 2022. In terms of GDP per capita, Morocco reached $3,672 in 2023, a 6.69% increase from 2022. The IMF estimated GDP per capita (PPP) at $10,615 in 2024.
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2022. Inflation below 5% is in green.
YearGDP(in bn. US$PPP)GDP per capita(in US$ PPP)GDP(in US$ nominal)GDP growth(real)Inflation rate(in Percent)Unemployment(in Percent)Government debt(in % of GDP)198031.41,61523.83.8%9.4%n/an/a198133.41,67519.3-2.8%12.5%n/an/a198238.91,90019.59.6%10.5%n/an/a198340.21,91817.6-0.6%6.2%n/an/a198443.42,02516.14.3%12.4%n/an/a198547.62,16916.36.3%7.7%n/an/a198652.62,34221.58.3%8.7%n/an/a198752.52,28423.7-2.5%2.7%n/an/a198860.12,55328.110.4%2.4%n/an/a198963.92,65428.92.4%3.1%n/an/a199069.02,85332.74.0%6.0%n/a70.5%199176.43,10334.97.2%9.0%n/a59.1%199276.53,05036.5-2.1%5.7%n/a67.0%199377.83,04434.3-0.7%5.2%n/a74.7%199487.83,37938.510.6%5.1%n/a69.3%199584.83,21542.2-5.4%6.1%16.0%72.2%199697.13,62846.712.4%3.0%15.5%65.3%199797.23,58242.4-1.6%1.0%15.4%68.0%1998105.43,83145.27.2%2.7%15.2%64.5%1999108.13,87345.11.1%0.7%14.0%63.4%2000112.63,98242.11.9%1.9%13.5%64.9%2001123.64,31142.77.3%0.6%12.3%60.4%2002129.44,45545.73.1%2.8%11.4%59.4%2003139.94,75156.36.0%1.2%11.5%56.9%2004150.55,04664.54.8%1.5%10.7%54.4%2005160.35,30667.53.3%1.0%11.0%54.8%2006177.85,80974.37.6%3.3%10.9%50.6%2007189.16,09985.53.5%2.0%9.7%47.1%2008204.16,502100.15.9%3.9%9.5%42.0%2009214.16,736100.54.2%2.2%9.0%42.6%2010225.06,990100.93.8%0.9%9.2%45.3%2011241.77,418109.75.2%0.8%8.5%48.6%2012244.77,421106.33.0%0.8%8.7%52.3%2013256.17,674115.64.5%1.6%9.5%57.1%2014259.37,679119.12.7%0.4%9.7%58.6%2015269.87,905110.44.3%1.4%9.2%58.4%2016274.07,944111.60.5%1.5%9.0%60.1%2017285.68,193118.55.1%0.7%10.6%60.3%2018301.38,556127.33.1%1.6%9.4%60.5%2019315.68,868128.92.9%0.2%10.2%60.3%2020296.48,245121.4-7.2%0.6%12.2%72.2%2021333.29,177141.87.9%1.4%11.9%68.9%2022359.79,808130.90.8%6.2%11.1%70.3%2023376.98,869144.43.4%6.1%13.0%69.5%2024398.59,066154.43.2%1.0%13.3%70.0%2025431.311,270179.64.4%1.0%12.8%71.6%
History
Over the years, Morocco implemented a series of development plans, enacted economic reforms, and encountered various challenges that have influenced its economic trajectory. From the 1960s to the present day, the country has sought to achieve sustained economic growth, reduce unemployment rates, and improve the living standards of its population.
French protectorate in Morocco French colonialism in Morocco was discriminatory against native Moroccons and highly detrimental to the Moroccan economy. Moroccans were treated as second class citizens and discriminated against in all aspects of colonial life. Infrastructure was discriminatory in colonial Morocco. The French colonial government built 36.5 kilometers of sewers in the new neighborhoods created to accommodate new French settlers while only 4.3 kilometers of sewers were built in indigenous Moroccan communities. Additionally, land in Morocco was far more expensive for Moroccans than for French settlers. For example, while the average Moroccan had a plot of land 50 times smaller than their French settler counterparts, Moroccans were forced to pay 24% more per hectare. Moroccans were additionally prohibited from buying land from French settlers.
Colonial Morocco’s economy was designed to benefit French businesses at the detriment of Moroccan laborers. Morocco was forced to import all of its goods from France despite higher costs. Additionally, improvements to agriculture and irrigation systems in Morocco exclusively benefited colonial agriculturalists while leaving Moroccan farms at a technological disadvantage. It is estimated that French colonial policies resulted in 95% of Morocco’s trade deficit by 1950.
1960–1989 Morocco instituted a series of development plans to modernize the economy and increase production during the 1960s. Net investment under the five-year plan for 1960–64 was about $1.3 billion. The plan called for a growth rate of 6.2%, but by 1964 the growth rate had only reached 3%. The main emphasis of the plan was on the development and modernization of the agricultural sector. The five-year development plan for 1968–72 called for increased agriculture and irrigation. The development of the tourist industry also figured prominently in the plan. The objective was to attain an annual 5% growth rate in GDP; the real growth rate actually exceeded 6%.
Investment during the 1970s included industry and tourism development. The five-year plan for 1973–77 envisaged a real economic growth of 7.5% annually. Industries singled out for development included chemicals (especially phosphoric acid), phosphate production, paper products, and metal fabrication. In 1975, King Hassan II announced a 50% increase in investment targets to allow for the effects of inflation. The 1978–80 plan was one of stabilization and retrenchment, designed to improve Morocco's balance-of-payments position.
The ambitious five-year plan for 1981–85, estimated to cost more than $18 billion, aimed at achieving a growth rate of 6.5% annually. The plan's principal priority was to create some 900,000 new jobs and to train managers and workers in modern agricultural and industrial techniques. Other major goals were to increase production in agriculture and fisheries to make the country self-sufficient in food, and to develop energy, industry, and tourism to enable Morocco to lessen its dependence on foreign loans. The plan called for significant expansion of irrigated land, for increased public works projects such as hospitals and schools, and for economic decentralization and regional development through the construction of 25 new industrial parks outside the crowded Casablanca-Kénitra coastal area. Large industrial projects included phosphoric acid plants, sugar refineries, mines to exploit cobalt, coal, silver, lead, and copper deposits, and oil-shale development.
1990–2000s
Moroccan economic policies brought macroeconomic stability to the country in the early 1990s but did not spur growth sufficient to reduce unemployment despite Moroccan Government's ongoing efforts to diversify the economy. Drought conditions depressed activity in the key agricultural sector, and contributed to an economic slowdown in 1999. Favorable rainfalls have led Morocco to a growth of 6% for 2000. Formidable long-term challenges included: servicing the external debt; preparing the economy for freer trade with the EU; and improving education and attracting foreign investment to improve living standards and job prospects for Morocco's youthful population.