Morocco has further strengthened its business climate, ranking second in Africa and the Arab world in the second edition of the World Bank Group’s Business Ready 2025 report, published Monday in Washington.
According to the report, the Kingdom achieved an aggregate score of 63.44 points out of 100, improving on its performance in the first edition, where it scored 62.41 points. Morocco’s result places it well above the global average of 60.11 points, as well as the averages for African countries (50.87) and Arab countries (58.31).
The Business Ready report evaluates how effectively economies support private sector activity by assessing regulatory frameworks, public services directed at firms, and how efficiently these elements are implemented in practice. The 2025 edition expands its coverage to 101 economies, compared to 50 in the inaugural edition, with around 60 percent of the assessed countries having a higher per capita income than Morocco.
Globally, the Republic of Korea topped the rankings with a score of 78.24 points, setting the benchmark for best performance in the report.
The assessment is based on ten major themes covering the life cycle of firms, using around 1,200 indicators. These themes are analyzed through three complementary pillars: the regulatory framework, the quality of public services, and operational efficiency. Data for the first two pillars are drawn from experts and professionals, while operational efficiency is measured using results from the World Bank’s triennial Enterprise Survey.
Overall, Morocco recorded notable improvements in the regulatory framework pillar, scoring 70.06 points, and in the quality of public services, with 64.55 points. The report highlights strong performance in five key areas: utility services (80.05 points), international trade (74.5), business entry (73.95), business location (73.82), and financial services (68.24).
However, Morocco registered a decline in the operational efficiency pillar, scoring 55.7 points compared to 59.66 in the first edition. The report attributes this mainly to the expanded number of countries included in the 2025 edition and the reuse of results from the 2023 Enterprise Survey, which were also used in the initial assessment.
Despite this setback, the World Bank notes that Morocco remains generally well positioned, with above-average performance in several strategic areas, including business creation, access to public utilities, and international trade.
The report also points to progress in market competition and dispute resolution, strengthening legal certainty for economic operators. At the same time, it identifies areas with significant potential for further improvement, particularly in the labor market and in mechanisms for resolving business insolvency, which are seen as crucial for boosting private investment.
