Morocco : Women make up more than half of population in 2020

Women constituted more than half (50.3%) of the total population of Morocco during the past year, according to the High Planning Commission (HCP).

For women aged 15 and over, 28.1% are single, 57.8% are married, 10.8% are widowed and 3.3% are divorced, the HCP points out in an information note on the occasion of International Women's Day.

Of the 8,438,000 households in 2020, 16.7% are headed by women, says the same source, noting that this share is higher in urban areas (19.1%) than in rural areas (11.4 %).

The health situation of women shows a clear improvement, the HCP notes, adding that maternal mortality rate dropped from 112 deaths per 100,000 in 2010 to 72.6 deaths in 2018 (111.1 in rural and 44.5 in urban). In 2018, 70.8% of women used a contraceptive method, whether modern or traditional.

The said note also highlights that during confinement in 2020, among the 6% of households with women concerned by reproductive health, 34% did not have access to health services (27% in urban areas and 39% in rural areas).

Regarding education and training, if access to school is almost guaranteed for primary education, the preschool, college and qualifying levels show deficits. Indeed, the enrolment rate, in 2020, was 71.9% in preschool, 66.8% in college secondary and 37.5% at the qualifying level, notes the HCP, adding that Gender Parity Index was 0.96 in elementary school, 0.92 in college secondary and 1.1 in qualifying secondary.

The share of adult women (aged 25 and over) with no education level is estimated at 52.9% during the past year. This proportion is 18.5% for primary, 21% for college and secondary and 7.6% for higher education.

According to the same source, the share of businesses headed by women in 2019 reached 12.8%. Women managers are more present in the service sector (17.3%), followed by trade (13.8%), industry (12.6%) and construction (2.6%).

Even if women managers appear less in large companies (8%), they are more present in very small companies (13.4%) and within small and medium-sized companies (10.2%), says HCP.

In the public service, women in positions of responsibility represent 23.5%, while the number of seats occupied by women at the House of Representatives (lower house) is 20.5% and the share of their seats at the territorial councils is 20.9%.