Morocco Struggles at 137th Place in 2025 Gender Equality Rankings
Rabat – Morocco holds the 137th spot out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Gender Gap Report.
Last year, Morocco also presented a poor performance, ranking among the bottom 10 in the report.
The report, published annually since 2006, measures gender equality across four metrics: economic participation and opportunity, education access, political empowerment, and health.
These categories show the extent to which women benefit from equal access to jobs, education, political representation, and healthcare compared to men.
Morocco's very low rankings expose a grim reality for women, with little to no sign of improvement.
Ranked 143rd in economic participation, women face significant barriers to decent jobs and career progression. Education, at 114th, is slightly better, but the improvement is weak and far from enough to close the gender gap.
Political representation at 91st remains low, limiting women's capacity to have a say in matters that determine their lives. Most troubling is the 136the position in health and survival, pointing to persisting issues with access to care and life expectancy.
These numbers show the sobering fact that gender equality in Morocco remains elusive.
Morocco ranks second in the Maghreb list after Tunisia, which is 123rd in the world. Algeria is 141st, while Mauritania and Libya did not figure in this year's report.
In the broader Arab world, Morocco sits at 10th place. Countries like the UAE (69th), Bahrain (104th), and Jordan (122nd) rank higher, while Lebanon (136th) and Oman (134rd) fall behind.
On the African continent, Morocco occupies the 27th position. Namibia leads African countries with a strong 8th place worldwide, followed by Cape Verde (30th) and South Africa (33rd).
Globally, Iceland continues to top and set the standard for gender equality, followed by Finland and Norway. The UK climbs to 4th place, with New Zealand and Sweden also among the top performers.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, countries such as Iran (145th), Chad (146th), Sudan (147th), and Pakistan (148th) show the greatest gender gaps; rankings that Morocco is relatively close to.
Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, as well as Sub-Sahara show moderate progress, approaching the 70% threshold toward equality.
South Asia and the MENA region lag behind, closing only about two thirds of the gap.
Morocco still faces a very long, difficult road to close the gender gap. Legal reforms must go beyond surface changes to truly protect and empower women. Tags: Gender Gapgender gap indexMoroccowomen rights
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