The question of how many people work in Morocco's public sector seems straightforward, yet it is surprisingly difficult to provide a precise answer. Every year, when the Finance Bill is submitted to Parliament, it is accompanied by a stack of budgetary and statistical documents. One of these documents provides detailed information on the human resources of the public administration, including the number of civil servants, their distribution by region and department, and their salary ranges.
However, this document only provides information on a portion of the workforce, possibly less than half. In addition to civil servants in administrations and ministries, there are also employees of local authorities, public enterprises and establishments, and numerous institutions, agencies, and other semi-autonomous organizations. These categories are directly or indirectly part of the public sector but are not all included in a single count.
Various entities, such as the Ministry of Finance, the General Treasury of the Kingdom, public establishments, and pension organizations, have detailed data on personnel within their respective areas. However, these numbers are scattered, not always based on the same categories or methods, and may not correspond to the same years. Consequently, adding them up does not yield a reliable national workforce count.
It is challenging to imagine that in 2026, Morocco's administration would be unable to produce a consolidated, accurate, and up-to-date statistic on all people working in the public sector. This information is crucial for the development, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. Knowing the actual number of public sector employees, their distribution, and their evolution is fundamental.
The issue is significant, as understanding the size and composition of the public sector workforce is essential for effective governance and resource allocation. Without a comprehensive and accurate count, policymakers may face difficulties in making informed decisions about public services, budgeting, and human resource management.
Attempts to gather this information have been made, but the results are often fragmented and not comparable. For instance, data from the Ministry of Finance and other public entities may not be synchronized, making it hard to get a clear picture of the public sector workforce. This lack of coordination and standardization hampers efforts to develop a unified and reliable database.
The need for a centralized and accurate database on public sector employees is pressing. It would enable policymakers to make data-driven decisions, optimize resource allocation, and improve the overall efficiency of public services. Saâd Benmansour highlighted this issue in his article, emphasizing the importance of having a precise count of public sector workers to support effective policymaking and governance.
Key points
- The Moroccan administration faces challenges in providing an accurate count of public sector employees due to scattered and non-comparable data.
