Moroccan Army Salary: Pay by Rank and What Is Public

Moroccan army salary explained: the FAR publish no rank-by-rank pay table. This guide sets out ranks, conscription terms, how to register and what can be verified.

The Moroccan army salary is one of the least documented pay questions in North African defence. The Royal Armed Forces (FAR) do not publish a rank-by-rank pay table, and no official monthly figure for a soldier or officer could be verified for this guide. What can be confirmed is how the force is organised, which ranks exist, how conscription and recruitment work, and how Morocco compares with other African armies. Figures from forums and social media that cannot be traced to an official document are left out, and where data is missing this guide says so instead of estimating.

Moroccan Army Salary: How Pay Is Structured

The Royal Moroccan Army is the land component of the FAR, which were created on 14 May 1956 after independence. They drew on about 14,000 personnel from the French army, 10,000 from Spanish forces and around 5,000 former Army of Liberation fighters. King Mohammed VI is Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff, and the top rank of general of the army is reserved for the King.

Pay is set by the state, and none of the public sources reviewed lists base pay by rank. In most armies compensation combines a base salary with allowances linked to rank, posting and family circumstances. For Morocco no official breakdown of that kind is public, so any rank-by-rank number quoted online should be treated as unverified.

The scale of the system is easier to establish than its pay. Compilations citing the IISS Military Balance put the Army at about 175,000 personnel, within roughly 196,000 active personnel across the FAR and about 150,000 reservists. A defence budget of about MAD 119.8 billion, or roughly USD 15.7 billion, is reported in open compilations. The sources reviewed give no split between personnel costs and equipment, so the budget cannot be turned into an average salary. For wider context, see our ranking of the largest armies in Africa.

Salary Table by Rank or Role

The rank structure is public even though the pay attached to it is not. The table lists the ranks of the Moroccan Army and states plainly what is known about pay for each group. Monthly pay is shown as not published because no official source was found; empty cells are not a sign of zero pay.

Group	Ranks	Published monthly pay
General officers	Général de corps d’armée, Général de division, Général de brigade	Not published
Senior officers	Colonel-major, Colonel, Lieutenant-colonel, Commandant	Not published
Junior officers	Capitaine, Lieutenant, Sous-lieutenant	Not published
Non-commissioned officers	Adjudant-chef, Adjudant, Sergent-chef, Sergent	Not published
Corporals and soldiers	Caporal-chef, Caporal, Soldat de 1re classe, Soldat de 2e classe	Not published
Conscripts	Called-up citizens serving 12 months	No allowance figure verified

This means a Moroccan army salary table by rank cannot responsibly be built for Morocco at present. Readers who need precise numbers should rely on official documents such as a recruitment notice, a contract or a payslip, not on websites that print a single average.

Allowances and Additional Benefits

No official list of allowances that would add to the Moroccan army salary was found in the sources reviewed. That covers housing, family, hardship, flying or operational supplements, and end-of-service benefits. It would be misleading to describe them by analogy with other countries.

One item is documented for conscripts. The Hespress news site reported in December 2022 that the next intake added new specialties designed to meet labour-market requirements, which suggests that part of the value of service is training. The details of that training and any associated allowance were not available for this guide.

How Pay Compares Regionally

Morocco is not unusual in keeping pay data closed. Several large African armies publish little, and our own guides show different degrees of openness. Where we could verify the position, it is summarised below.

Country	Rank-by-rank pay table public?	What exists
Morocco	No official table found	Rank list, conscription terms, no pay data
Nigeria	No new table after the latest rise	Presidential tiered increase of 30% to 80%; Nigerian Army salary guide
Egypt	No open pay table	See the Egyptian Army officer salary guide
South Africa	No current scale; older ranges only	Ranges from a 2016/17 government notice, see SANDF salary by rank

The pattern is that governments tend to announce percentage changes or budget totals rather than individual rank scales. Morocco follows the same practice, with the added feature that its conscript intake is publicised each year while remuneration is not.

Career Path and Promotion

The Army uses the standard sequence from soldier to general. A soldier of the second class can progress through first class, corporal and sergeant grades to warrant officer ranks such as adjudant and adjudant-chef. Commissioned officers move from sous-lieutenant to capitaine, then through commandant, lieutenant-colonel, colonel and colonel-major to general rank.

Promotion rules, minimum time in grade and the examinations that separate career tracks were not described in the public sources reviewed. After independence, officers were trained in institutions such as Saint-Cyr in France, Toledo in Spain and the school at Dar al Beida in Meknes. Which establishments train officers today was not confirmed here, and candidates should ask the official recruitment channels.

For a regional view of how equivalent ranks line up, our African military ranks comparison may help.

Requirements and How to Apply

Military service in Morocco is compulsory for men and was reinstated by law in 2019. It lasts 12 months and applies to citizens aged 19 to 25, according to published descriptions. Reported targets are 10,000 conscripts a year, rising to as many as 15,000. Women and dual nationals are not called up and can only volunteer, and refusing a call-up is reported to carry a prison term of one month to one year.

The Interior Ministry runs an annual census. In the latest cycle it ran from 2 March to 30 April, with the intake starting on 1 September. A central commission chaired by a senior judge from the Court of Cassation sets the selection criteria, and the eligible lists are drawn up by prefecture and province. Local authorities then notify the people concerned.

Those who receive a notice complete an online census form on the official portal tajnid.ma. Other young men and women aged 19 to 25 can register voluntarily on the same site, and Moroccans abroad are eligible if they are registered with consular authorities. In 2022 Hespress reported that Moroccan women had submitted 30,000 requests for voluntary service.

The portal is also listed as the official recruitment site. Entry conditions for professional soldiers and officers, such as education level and age limits, were not available in the sources reviewed. Applicants should read the current notice on the official portal before sending any document, and avoid intermediaries who promise a post in return for payment.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Moroccan soldier earn?

There is no officially published Moroccan army salary figure. The Royal Armed Forces do not release a rank-by-rank pay table, and the sources reviewed contain no verified monthly amount. Numbers shown on recruitment websites or social media cannot be traced to an official document, so this guide does not repeat them.

Is military service paid in Morocco?

No allowance figure for conscripts could be verified. Service lasts 12 months for citizens aged 19 to 25, and the state organises the call-up each year. Anyone selected should confirm the terms in the official notice and with the local authority, not from unofficial summaries.

How do I register for military service?

Complete the online census form on tajnid.ma during the annual census period, usually in spring. People who receive a printed notice from local authorities must register, and other young men and women aged 19 to 25 can volunteer on the same portal. The intake starts on 1 September.

Does the Moroccan army pay more than Nigeria or Egypt?

That cannot be established. None of the three countries publishes a complete rank-by-rank table in the sources reviewed, and currency and living costs differ. A fair comparison needs official pay scales, which are not available for Morocco.

Moroccan Army Salary: What Is Known About Pay by Rank