Morocco

The Kingdom of Morocco is located in the north westernmost tip of Africa, South of Spain, across a narrow strip of the Mediterranean. At approximately 172,400 square miles, Morocco is just bigger than California, boasts two coastlines and a very diverse physical geography and climate. The current population of approximately 30 million is an Arab-Berber ethnic melt with an ever dwindling number of Moroccan Sephardi Jews. Most Moroccans speak varieties of Arabic and/or Berber. French is used in the media alongside Modern Standard Arabic as a semi-official auxiliary language. Morocco is a constitutional hereditary monarchy with a partially elected government. The monarch bears the title “Commander of the Faithful” and claims Muhammadan descent.

Morocco has two Catholic dioceses. The primary one, the Diocese of Rabat, administers more than 30 parishes across the country, and provides an official count of 25,000 baptized Catholics in Morocco.

Sunni Islam is Morocco's state religion. Unless Jewish-born, all Moroccan citizens are judicially treated as Sunni Muslim even if they adopt other faiths.

Religious Affiliation
Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
Total Population
36,191,805 1
Urban
62.50% 1
Rural
37.50% 1
Immigrants as % of Population
0.3% 2
Level of Public Corruption
90 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
137 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
Fertility Rate
2.49 births per adult woman 5
Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
2.80% 5
Life Expectancy at Birth
74 years 5
Adult Literacy Rate
67.08% 5
Internet Users
57% 5
Gross National Income per Capita
US$3,070 5
Population Living Below US$1.90 per Day
3.1% 5

These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.

Baptized Catholics
24,000
Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
0.07
Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
61
Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
66
First Communions per Year
66
Confirmations per Year
75
Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
7,575
Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
1,789
Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
27
Church Marriages per Year
8
Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
7
Priests
53
Women Religious (Nuns & Sisters)
155
Catholics per Priest
453
Parishes
23
Catholic Hospitals
1
Homes for Aged, Handicapped, Invalids
2
  • 1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
  • 2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
  • 3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
  • 4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
  • 5 UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2016.
  • 6 Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022).
  • 7 World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report, 2016.