RABAT, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's unemployment rate rose to 12.3 percent in 2021, from 11.9 percent the previous year, according to the data released on Saturday.
The unemployment rate in urban areas increased to 16.9 percent year on year, while the rate in rural areas decreased to 5 percent in 2021, the High Commission for Planning said in the report.
The figures show that the unemployment rate in Morocco is still above pre-pandemic levels of 9.2 percent in 2019 and 9.5 percent in 2018.
Morocco's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 7 percent in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and is estimated to have grown by 6.3 percent in 2021. ■