📰 Morocco · page 5

There have been substantial improvements in access to water supply, and to a lesser extent to sanitation, over the past fifteen years.425 Remaining challenges include a low level of wastewater treatment (only 13% of collected wastewater is being treated), lack of house connections in the poorest urban neighbourhoods and limited sustainability of rural systems (20% of rural systems are estimated not to function).426 In 2005, a National Sanitation Programme was approved that aims at treating 60% of collected wastewater and connecting 80% of urban households to sewers by 2020.[207]427 The issue of lack of water connections for some of the urban poor is being addressed as part of the National Human Development Initiative, under which residents of informal settlements have received land titles and have fees waived that are normally paid to utilities in order to connect to the water and sewer network.428 An investment programme of about MAD 15 billion was made to cover the centres managed by ONEP from 2003–2017.[205]429 Japanese and Canadian cooperators and AFESD have also financed several projects for ONEP.[205]430

Though, between 1960 and 2020, the per capita availability of renewable water resources went from 2,560 m3 to about 620 m3 per person annually.431 The World Bank has reported that they have supported the Noor Solar Power project in Morocco with US$700 million in financing the project "To address water scarcity and its impacts on agriculture."[208]432

Science and technology

Main article: Science and technology in Morocco

The Moroccan government has been implementing reforms to improve the quality of education and make research more responsive to socio-economic needs.433 In May 2009, Morocco's prime minister, Abbas El Fassi, announced that investment in science and technology would rise from US$620,000 in 2008 to US$8.5 million (69 million Moroccan dirhams) in 2009 to finance the laboratories construction, training courses for researchers and a scholarship programme for science during a meeting at the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research.[209]434 Morocco was ranked 67th in the Global Innovation Index in 2025,[210][211] an increase in ranking from 2020 at 75th.[212]435

The Moroccan Innovation Strategy was launched at the country's first National Innovation Summit in June 2009 by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Investment and the Digital Economy.436 The Moroccan Innovation Strategy fixed the target of producing 1,000 Moroccan patents and creating 200 innovative start-ups by 2014.437 In 2012, Moroccan inventors applied for 197 patents, up from 152 two years earlier.438 In 2011, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies created a Moroccan Club of Innovation, in partnership with the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property.439 The idea is to create a network of players in innovation to help them develop innovative projects.[213]440

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is supporting research in advanced technologies.441 The Moroccan Phosphate Office (Office chérifien des phosphates) has invested in a project to develop a smart city, King Mohammed VI Green City, around Mohammed VI University located between Casablanca and Marrakesh,[214] at a cost of DH 4.7 billion (circa US$479 million).[213][215]442 In 2012, the Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technologies identified a number of sectors where Morocco has a comparative advantage and skilled human capital, including mining, fisheries, food chemistry and new technologies.443 It also identified a number of strategic sectors, such as renewable energies, health sectors, the environment and geosciences.[213][216]444

On 20 May 2015 – less than a year post its inception – the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research presented a report to the King offering a Vision for Education in Morocco 2015–2030.445 The report advocated making education egalitarian and, thus, accessible to the greatest number.446 The report also recommended developing an integrated national innovation system which would be financed by gradually increasing the share of GDP devoted to research and development (R&D) from 0.73% of GDP in 2010 to '1% in the short term, 1.5% by 2025 and 2% by 2030'.[213]447 As of 2015, Morocco had three technoparks.448 Since the first technopark was established in Rabat in 2005, a second has been set up in Casablanca, followed, in 2015, by a third in Tangier.449 The technoparks host start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises specialising in information and communication technologies (ICTs), 'green' technologies (namely, environmentally friendly technologies) and cultural industries.[213]450 According to the Office Marocain de la Propriété Industrielle et Commerciale, patent filing in Morocco grew by 167% during the period 2015–2019.[217]451

In 2024, Morocco's population is among the top four most-connected to the Internet in continental Africa, by number of population.[218]452 In 2022, the number of Internet users in Morocco reached around 31.6 million.[219]453 Later, as of January 2024, Morocco had approximately 34.5 million internet users; it has a penetration rate of about 90.7%.[220]454 Morocco has several Internet-related projects; an example of such is the National Digital Development Strategy 2030.[221]455 In 2024, as part of another program called the Connected Campus, the American wireless network provider Cambium Networks deployed 18,000 Wi-Fi access points for public universities in Morocco.[222]456

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Morocco, Moroccans

Population

Morocco has a population of around 36,828,330 inhabitants (2024 census).[26]457 Morocco's population was 11.6 million in 1960.[223]458 In 2024, 49.7% of the population is female, while 50.3% of it is male.[220]459 According to the 2014 Morocco population census, there were around 84,000 immigrants in the country.460 Of these foreign-born residents, most were of French origin, followed by individuals mainly from various nations in West Africa and Algeria.[224]461 There are also a number of foreign residents of Spanish origin.462 Some of them are descendants of colonial settlers, who primarily work for European multinational companies, while others are married to Moroccans or are retirees.463 Prior to independence, Morocco was home to half a million Europeans, most of whom were Christians.[225]464 Also, prior to independence, Morocco was home to 250,000 Spaniards.[226]465 Morocco's once prominent Jewish minority has decreased significantly since its peak of 265,000 in 1948, declining to around 3,500 in 2022.[227]466

Morocco has a large diaspora, most of which is located in France, which has reportedly more than one million Moroccans (up to the third generation).467 There are also large Moroccan communities in Spain (about 700,000 Moroccans),[228] the Netherlands (360,000), and Belgium (300,000).[229]468 Other large communities can be found in Italy, Canada, the United States, and Israel, where Moroccan Jews are thought to constitute the second-largest Jewish ethnic subgroup.[230]469

Ethnic groups

In Morocco, ethnic identity is deeply intertwined with language and culture, with the population primarily comprising two major groups: Arabs and Berbers.[231][232]470 Morocco is the country with the largest Berber population in the world.[233][234]471 Morocco's State Statistics Bureau (the Higher Planning Commission) does not collect data on ethnic demographics, citing the historical difficulty of distinguishing between Arabs and Berbers, even among Berber-languages' speakers.[235]472

According to 2024 census data, 92.7% of the population speaks Arabic, while 24.8% regularly speak an Amazigh variety.[236]473 Mainstream Amazigh activists dispute this percentage arguing in reality it is closer to 35–40%.[237]474 Despite the lack of official ethnic statistics, estimates generally put the Berber population as ranging between 35–60% of the population,[238][239][240] while estimates of the Arab population range between 44–60%.[240][241]475

Berbers, who are also known as Amazigh, are typically divided into three main groups with varying dialects who live spread out in rural mountain areas, namely the Rifians in the Rif, the Central Atlas Amazigh in the Middle Atlas, and the Shilha people in the Anti-Atlas.[242][243]476 Since the 7th century, the influx of Arab migrants from the Arabian Peninsula has contributed to shaping Morocco's demographic, cultural, and genetic landscape.[244]477 Additionally, a considerable portion of the population includes Haratin, Sahrawis, and Gnawa, descendants of West African or mixed-race enslaved peoples, as well as Moriscos, European Muslims expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 17th century.[245]478

Additionally, Minority Rights Group International estimates that around 90,000 Sahrawis reside in internationally recognised Morocco, compared to approximately 190,000 in the disputed Western Sahara.[246]479

Religion

Main article: Religion in Morocco

The religious affiliation in the country was estimated by the Pew Forum in 2010 as 99% Muslim, with all remaining groups accounting for less than 1% of the population.[247]480 Of those affiliated with Islam, virtually all are Sunni Muslims, with Shia Muslims accounting for less than 0.1%.[248]481 However, nearly 15% of Moroccans nonetheless describe themselves as non religious according to a 2018 survey conducted by the research network Arab Barometer; the same survey saw nearly 100 percent of respondents identify as Muslims.[249]482 Another 2021 Arab Barometer survey found that 67.8% of Moroccans identified as religious, 29.1% as somewhat religious, and 3.1% as non religious.[250]483 The 2015 Gallup International poll reported that 93% of Moroccans considered themselves to be religious.[251]484

Prior to Morocco's independence in 1956, the country was home to a significant Christian community, numbering over 500,000 Christians, predominantly of Spanish and French ancestry.[252]485 These Catholic settlers had a historic legacy and a powerful presence.[252]486 However, following Morocco's independence, many of these Christian settlers left to Spain or France.[252]487 The predominantly Catholic and Protestant foreign-resident Christian community consists of approximately 40,000 practising members.488 Most foreign resident Christians reside in the Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakesh and Rabat corpus urban areas.[253]489 Meanwhile, the Moroccan Association of Human Rights estimates there are 25,000 Christian citizens.[253]490

Before the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, there were about 265,000 Jews in the country, which gave Morocco the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world.491 The most recent estimates put the size of the historic Casablanca Jewish community at about 2,500,[254][255] and the Rabat and Marrakesh Jewish communities at about 100 members each.492 The remainder of the Jewish population is dispersed throughout the country.493 This population is mostly elderly, with a decreasing number of young people.[256]494 The Baháʼí Faith community, located in urban areas, numbers 350 to 400 persons.[256]495

Languages

Main article: Languages of Morocco

Morocco's official languages are Arabic and Berber.[1][257]496 The country's distinctive group of Moroccan Arabic dialects is referred to as Darija.[258]497 Approximately 92.7% of the whole population can speak Arabic.498 Berber languages are spoken by 24.8% of the population in three dialects (Tarifit spoken by 3.2%, Tashelhit spoken by 14.2% and Central Atlas Tamazight spoken by 7.4%).[259]499 According to the 2024 census, 99.2%, or almost the entire literate population of Morocco, could read and write in Arabic, whereas 1.5% of the population could read and write in Berber.500 The census also reported that 80.6% of Moroccans consider Arabic to be their native language, while 18.9% regard any of the various Berber languages as their mother tongue.[259][260]501 After Morocco declared independence in 1956, French and Arabic became the main languages of administration and education.[261]502

French is widely used in governmental institutions, media, mid-size and large companies, international commerce with French-speaking countries and often in international diplomacy.[262]503 French is taught as an obligatory language in all schools.504 According to the 2004 census, 2.19 million Moroccans spoke a foreign language other than French.[263]505 English, while far behind French in terms of number of speakers, is the first foreign language of choice, since French is obligatory, among educated youth and professionals.506 In 2010, there were 10,366,000 French-speakers in Morocco, or about 32% of the population.[264][3]507

According to Ethnologue, as of 2016, there are 1,536,590 individuals (or approximately 4.5% of the population) in Morocco who speak Spanish.[265]508 Spanish is mostly spoken in northern Morocco and the former Spanish Sahara because Spain had previously occupied those areas.[266]509 Meanwhile, a 2018 study by the Instituto Cervantes found 1.7 million Moroccans who were at least proficient in Spanish, placing Morocco as the country with the most Spanish speakers outside the Hispanophone world (unless the United States is also excluded from Spanish-speaking countries).[267]510 A significant portion of northern Morocco receives Spanish media, television signal and radio airwaves, which reportedly facilitate competence in the language in the region.[261]511

Education

Main article: Education in Morocco

Education in Morocco is free and compulsory through primary school.512 In 2024, Morocco's literacy rate was 75,2%, with youth literacy at 98.4%.[268][269][270]513 In September 2006, UNESCO awarded Morocco, among such countries as Cuba corpus, Pakistan corpus, India corpus and Turkey corpus, the "UNESCO 2006 Literacy Prize."[271]514

Morocco has more than four dozen universities, institutes of higher learning and polytechnics dispersed at urban centres throughout the country.515 Its leading institutions include Mohammed V University in Rabat, the country's largest university, with branches in Casablanca and Fès; the Hassan II Agriculture and Veterinary Institute in Rabat, which conducts leading social science research in addition to its agricultural specialties; and Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, the first English-language university in Northwest Africa,[272] inaugurated in 1995 with contributions from Saudi Arabia and the United States.516

The al-Qarawiyin University, founded by Fatima al-Fihri in the city of Fez in 859 as a madrasa,[273] is considered by some sources, including UNESCO, to be the "oldest university in the world."[274]517 Morocco has also some prestigious postgraduate schools, including: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, l'Institut national des postes et télécommunications, École Nationale Supérieure d'Électricité et de Mecanique (ENSEM), EMI, ISCAE, INSEA, National School of Mineral Industry, École Hassania des Travaux Publics, Les Écoles nationales de commerce et de gestion and École supérieure de technologie de Casablanca.[275][276]518

Health

Main article: Health in Morocco