Policy Briefs

The Impact of COVID-19 on Middle Eastern and North African Labor Markets: A Focus on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

No.

PB 60

Publisher

ERF

Date

October, 2021

Topic

J. Labor and Demographic Economics

In a nutshell:
  • Among the four MENA countries we examine, only Egypt managed to maintain a positive growth rate of 1.5% in 2020. The economic contraction in 2020 ranged from 8.8% in Tunisia and 6.3% in Morocco to 1.6% in Jordan.
  • In the contracting countries, the lockdown resulted in large losses in the second quarter of 2020, with varying degrees of recovery in the third and fourth quarters. The tourist and transport industries were the hardest hit.
  • Our new data on firms shows that tourism-related industries were the most negatively affected with regards to closures, reduced hours, and income losses.
  • Microenterprises were the most likely to be closed due to COVID-19. If open, micro and small firms were more likely to have reduced hours than medium firms.
  • Small enterprises were more affected by revenue losses than either micro or medium enterprises, with the exception of Tunisia where microenterprises were more affected,.
  • The most important challenge facing businesses across countries was the loss in demand, followed by access to customers due to mobility restrictions.
  • From over half (Tunisia) to three quarters (Morocco) of firms reported not applying for nor receiving any government assistance, although less than a tenth (Tunisia) to a third (Egypt) said no government support was needed.
  • Business loans were the most common types of support received and needed, but salary subsidies were also commonly received in Tunisia and mentioned as needed in both Morocco and Tunisia. Reduced/delayed taxes were the next most commonly mentioned needed measure in all four countries.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Middle Eastern and North African Labor Markets: A Focus on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

Authors

Caroline Krafft

Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs,...

The Impact of COVID-19 on Middle Eastern and North African Labor Markets: A Focus on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

Research Fellows

Ragui Assaad

Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, University...

The Impact of COVID-19 on Middle Eastern and North African Labor Markets: A Focus on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises

Research Fellows

Mohamed Ali Marouani

Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne