The number of active auto-entrepreneurs (AE) rose to 300,457 in 2021, against 272,263 in 2020 and 180,273 in 2019, thus posting annual increases of 10.4% and 66.7%, respectively, according to the Observatory. of very small and medium-sized enterprises (OMTPME).
The regional breakdown of active AEs for the year 2021 reveals the predominance of the Casablanca-Settat region, which alone accounts for 31.8% of the total, thus posting an increase of 1.9 points compared to the year. 2019, according to the annual report of the OMTPME 2020-2021.
This region is followed by that of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra with a share of 16%, marking a drop of 0.9 points compared to 2019. As for the region of Marrakech-Safi, this proportion is 11.6 %, followed by Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima with 9.8%.
In addition, the report shows that almost all, i.e. 99.2% of active AEs in Morocco generated a turnover not individually exceeding 100,000 DH in 2021.
Regarding the annual flow of auto-entrepreneurs registered at Barid Al-Maghrib during the period 2019-2021, it experienced a significant increase in 2020, “probably in connection with the impacts of the pandemic crisis on the employment,” says the report.
The number of AEs registered in 2021 amounts to 86,095, marking a drop of nearly 43% compared to the year 2020 during which this number reached 150,253, up by 240.5. % year-on-year, notes the Observatory, which explains this clear progression by “greater use of this scheme induced by job losses linked to the Covid-19 crisis”.
The report also states that 68.5% of registered auto-entrepreneurs are concentrated on the Tangier-El Jadida and Marrakech-Safi axis and that the regional distribution of AEs registered in 2021 shows that the region of Casablanca- Settat concentrated 30.3% of the total, compared to 26% in 2020 and 28% in 2019.
It is followed by the region of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra with a share of 15.8%, a decrease of 1 point compared to 2019, the observatory says, which adds that with regard to the region of Marrakech -Safi, this proportion is 11.7%, followed by Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima with 10.7%.
In addition, the OMTPME points out that the sectoral analysis shows that for the year 2021, 48.2% of registered AEs fall under the “Services” section of activities and 37% under “Trade”, against 46.6 % and 38.3% respectively in 2019, noting that the year 2020 was however marked by the preponderance of activities relating to “trade” which monopolized 45.1% of the workforce of registered AEs, against 38.4% for services.
And to emphasize that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the status of auto-entrepreneur captured more new registrations among 35-44 and 45-54 year-olds, whose shares in the entire population studied increased by 2.2 points and 3.4 points respectively in 2020.
In this 2020-2021 edition of its annual report, the Moroccan Observatory of VSMEs delivers a set of indicators and analyzes on the demographic, economic and financial trends of companies during the Covid-19 pandemic.