Most of Morocco’s declared private-sector workers earn little: in 2024, 72.7% of employees declared to the CNSS earned under MAD 4,000 a month, according to the official SME observatory (OMTPME). A handful of well-compensated sectors pull the average up, while most salaried workers earn at or just above the 2026 minimum wage of MAD 3,422. By sector, the official 2024 declarations put finance and insurance at the top, paying about 3.4 times the non-agricultural average per declared job, and administrative and support services at the bottom, at about 0.6 times, even though that sector now employs more declared workers than any other.
Which sectors pay most, according to CNSS declarations
The cleanest official comparison comes from the Observatoire marocain de la TPME, which consolidates CNSS, tax and company-register data. Its 2025 annual report gives, for 2024, each sector’s declared payroll and its share of declared jobs outside agriculture. Divide one share by the other and you get how a sector’s pay per declared job compares with the average: 1.0 is average, 2.0 is double.
| Sector (OMTPME section) | Declared payroll 2024 | Share of non-agricultural declared jobs | Pay vs. average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and insurance activities | MAD 15.2 bn | 2.1% | 3.4× |
| Information and communication | MAD 10.0 bn | 2.4% | 2.0× |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | MAD 22.5 bn | 6.8% | 1.6× |
| Transport and storage | MAD 10.4 bn | 4.3% | 1.2× |
| Commerce and vehicle repair | MAD 39.2 bn | 16.7% | 1.1× |
| Manufacturing | MAD 35.1 bn | 16.2% | 1.0× |
| Education | MAD 9.3 bn | 4.7% | 0.9× |
| Human health and social work | MAD 4.4 bn | 2.4% | 0.9× |
| Accommodation and food service | MAD 8.8 bn | 5.4% | 0.8× |
| Construction | MAD 21.9 bn | 15.9% | 0.7× |
| Other service activities | MAD 4.3 bn | 3.1% | 0.7× |
| Administrative and support services | MAD 21.6 bn | 17.2% | 0.6× |
Total declared payroll reached MAD 221.8 billion in 2024, MAD 11.9 billion of it in agriculture, which the job shares above leave out; the index therefore uses the MAD 209.9 billion outside agriculture. One caution when reading it: the job counts are people declared during the year, not full-time equivalents, so sectors with many short contracts, like construction and hospitality, score lower partly for that reason.
The same report shows how bunched the distribution is. In 2024, 72.7% of employees declared to the CNSS earned under MAD 4,000 a month, 46.6% earned no more than the SMIG, and only 2.8% earned above MAD 20,000.
Salary ranges by sector
The ranges below are market indications collected from recruiter barometers, not an official statistic. They are gross monthly salaries in CDI (permanent contracts) for experienced profiles (3-10 years), bac+3 to bac+5 education. Entry-level positions typically land at the lower end of each range.
| Sector | Typical range (gross/month) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| IT / Tech (dev, data, cloud) | MAD 9,000 – 20,000 | Seniors: 25,000+ |
| Banking & finance | MAD 8,000 – 25,000 | Very wide depending on function |
| Telecoms | MAD 8,000 – 18,000 | Mainly large operators |
| Offshoring / BPO, call agent | MAD 3,500 – 5,500 | Supervisor: 6,000 – 9,000 |
| Offshoring / ITO, IT profiles | MAD 8,000 – 18,000 | Capgemini, Atos, Alten, CGI |
| Automotive industry (Tangier, Kenitra) | MAD 4,500 – 10,000 | Renault, Stellantis suppliers |
| Construction / BTP, engineer | MAD 8,000 – 15,000 | Technician: 5,000 – 8,000 |
| Retail / distribution | MAD 4,000 – 9,000 | Department managers at top |
| Tourism / hospitality | MAD 3,500 – 7,000 | Season and tips create variance |
| Public sector | ~MAD 10,100 net | Government target for 2026 |
| Agriculture | SMAG: MAD 97.44 a day | ≈ MAD 2,533 for 26 days worked |
Where the jobs are
Pay is one half of the picture; where people actually work is the other. The High Commission for Planning’s labour-force survey for the second quarter of 2026 counted 10,643,000 people in paid employment. Services employed 5,251,000 of them (49.3%), agriculture, forestry and fishing 2,569,000 (24.1%), industry 1,456,000 (13.7%) and construction 1,356,000 (12.7%). In towns, 64.5% of paid workers are in services; in the countryside, 54.5% are in agriculture. The HCP glossary entry explains the survey, which replaced the old national employment survey in 2026.
The HCP counts everyone working for pay or profit, self-employed and informal workers included, which is why its total is far larger than the roughly 4.07 million jobs declared to the CNSS in 2024.
The legal floors under every range
Two numbers set the bottom of the grid. The SMIG, MAD 17.92 an hour since 1 January 2026 (MAD 3,422 for a 191-hour month), covers industry, commerce and services. The SMAG, MAD 97.44 a day since 1 April 2026, covers farm work. Both come from decree n° 2.25.983, published in the Bulletin officiel on 29 December 2025. The SMIG glossary entry lists every step since 2022.
Tech: the sector that bends the averages
The tech sector has grown faster than any other in Morocco over the past five years, driven by the Maroc Digital 2030 strategy and the expansion of offshore development operations by European companies. A Python or Java developer with three years of experience earns MAD 10,000-14,000 gross in Casablanca. Confirmed cloud architects and cybersecurity specialists routinely exceed MAD 20,000.
The CNSS data backs the direction, if not the exact figures: information and communication accounts for only 2.4% of declared non-agricultural jobs but pays about twice the average per job.
Demand exceeds supply across most technical profiles, which keeps salaries high. The addition of AI-readiness as a differentiator has added another 10-15% premium for candidates who demonstrably use AI tools productively.
Role pages: web developer, IT engineer, project manager.
Hiring is open. Browse current tech roles in Morocco on Bayt.com, Casablanca, Rabat, and Tangier dominate the listings, with most senior roles paying within the ranges above.
Banking and finance: small headcount, top pay
Finance is the clearest outlier in the official data. Financial and insurance activities hold just 2.1% of declared non-agricultural jobs but MAD 15.2 billion of payroll, which works out at roughly 3.4 times the average per job. Inside the sector, spreads are wide: a branch adviser and a trading-room analyst sit in the same CNSS section. Sector page: banking and finance; role pages: auditor, management controller.
Offshoring: two markets in one label
Moroccan offshoring splits into two very different realities.
BPO (call centres, customer relations) employs tens of thousands, often near the minimum wage for entry-level agents. Majorel, Concentrix, Intelcia, Outsourcia hire continuously, but salaries plateau quickly without moving into supervision or quality management.
ITO (IT outsourcing) is a different world. Capgemini, Atos, Sopra Steria, Alten Delivery Center, and CGI operate IT shops paying comparable to local tech companies. A mid-level Java developer at one of these firms earns around MAD 12,000-16,000 gross.
Full sector overview: offshoring in Morocco.
The city effect
Casablanca pays more. Not on every role, but the pattern is clear: for equivalent profiles, the premium can reach 15-20% compared to other Moroccan cities.
It also concentrates the declared jobs: Casablanca-Settat held 38.9% of employment declared to the CNSS in 2024, followed by Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (14.6%), Souss-Massa (12.2%) and Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima (11.6%), per the OMTPME.
Rabat competes on public sector and civil service salaries. Tangier is rising fast thanks to the automotive industry (Renault, Stellantis, BYD) and logistics hubs. Marrakech remains dominated by tourism, with lower salaries except for hospitality management roles.
Public vs. private: what the numbers don’t say
The average public-sector net salary crossed MAD 10,100 in 2026, the government’s stated target. That’s well above the private median.
But a straight comparison misses the picture. The public sector offers total job security, a CMR pension (often more generous than the CNSS equivalent), seniority-based progression, and in some corps, allowances in kind. The trade-off: rigid careers, fixed-grade salary increases, and constrained geographic mobility.
For young graduates in IT, finance, or law, the private sector typically offers 30-50% higher starting compensation, with more volatility but faster upside.
What the barometers miss
CNSS data and recruiter barometers only see what employers declare. Two distortions follow. Informal work, without a contract or a CNSS declaration, appears in no salary statistic, and its pay often sits below the SMIG. And benefits in kind (company car, phone, top-up health cover, meal vouchers) never show up in declared gross pay.
How do I find out what a job pays before applying?
Rekrute and Michael Page Morocco publish annual salary barometers (released early each year). Indeed.fr Morocco is starting to display salary ranges on listings. LinkedIn lets you research comparable profiles. The most reliable source remains someone inside the target company or sector.
Can I negotiate on a first job?
Yes. The guide to salary negotiation in Morocco covers how, first job included.
Do expatriates earn more?
Generally yes, because expat packages include housing, school fees, and flights on top of base salary. But the practice is shrinking as companies increasingly prefer local talent at competitive rates when supply allows.
Further reading
- Morocco minimum wage 2026, the legal floor under every sector range
- Salary negotiation in Morocco, how to position yourself within a range
- First job in Morocco 2026, which entry-level ranges to target
- Gross-to-net calculator
- Guide: Understanding your Moroccan payslip, convert any gross above into actual take-home
- Guide: Severance calculation, total compensation isn’t just monthly gross
- Sector pages: offshoring, banking, BTP, automotive
Sources
- Observatoire marocain de la TPME, annual report 2025 edition (2024 data from CNSS, DGI, OMPIC, Ministry of Industry and Bank Al-Maghrib): table 42 page 119, table 44 page 121, table 49 page 132, salary bands page 133, omtpme.ma, read October 8, 2026. The “pay vs. average” column is computed from tables 44 and 49.
- High Commission for Planning (HCP), labour-market note for Q2 2026, Enquête sur la main-d’œuvre (EMO2026), published August 3, 2026: hcp.ma
- Decree n° 2.25.983 (SMIG and SMAG 2026): Bulletin officiel n° 7469
- CNSS private sector salary data 2024-2025 (via HCP)
- Xpertize Africa, Morocco salary grid 2026, verified May 2026
- Maroc.ma, public sector MAD 10,100 net target announcement
- Rekrute.com, Annual Salary Barometer 2025