Kingdom
HCP: The Informal Sector Includes Approximately 2.03 Million Production Units
HCP: Morocco’s informal sector shows dynamic growth, primarily urban, with commerce leading at 47% as services and construction expand in recent years.
According to the 2023/2024 National Survey on Informal Production Units published Wednesday by Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP), the informal sector includes approximately 2.03 million informal production units (UPIs) in 2023, reflecting an increase of over 353,000 units since 2014.
This growth is predominantly urban, with 77.3% of UPIs located in urban areas and a strong concentration in the Casablanca-Settat region (22.7%). Commerce remains the dominant activity (47% of UPIs), though its share has declined as services (28.3%) and construction (11.6%) expanded in recent years.
UPIs are overwhelmingly micro-scale: 85.5% consist of a single individual. Over half (55.3%) lack fixed professional premises, while 4.6% operate from home. The industrial sector stands out, with 56.5% of UPIs having professional premises and 22.5% operating from home. Conversely, 90.2% of construction sector activities lack fixed premises, primarily conducted at client sites.
The HCP notes that operating without fixed premises often stems from financial constraints (42.9%) or the nature of the activity (42.5%), particularly in transport and construction. Access to basic infrastructure remains uneven: 94% of UPIs with premises have electricity, but only 46% have drinking water, 43% sanitation, and 41% internet access. Larger units (four or more employees) fare better, while single-person units face significant deficits.
Administrative registration remains limited: 14.2% pay professional tax; 9.8% are affiliated with the National Social Security Fund (CNSS); 7.5% are registered in the trade registry; 6.2% participate in the Unified Professional Contribution (CPU) regime; 1.7% hold auto-entrepreneur status.
Units with fixed premises are more likely to register than home-based or mobile operations. Sector disparities persist: commerce and industry report higher registration rates, while construction lags.
Female leadership in UPIs declined marginally from 8.8% (2014) to 7.6% (2023), though women remain relatively represented in industry (20.9% in 2023). The average age of UPI managers rose from 42.5 to 45 years, while educational attainment improved: those without formal education fell from 34.3% to 18.6%, and those with secondary education increased from 28.8% to 40.5%.
The 2023/2024 survey updates data on informal production units, their economic integration, and contributions to wealth and employment. It covers non-agricultural units lacking compliant accounting under Moroccan regulations, forming part of the non-observed economy. Notably, it excludes illegal activities or deliberate underreporting by formal sector entities.
Conducted in two phases due to the absence of a comprehensive sampling framework, the survey first identified informal units through the national employment survey, then interviewed 12,391 UPIs. Data collection spanned April 2023 to March 2024 to account for seasonal variations.
