Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Morocco Data Table and Analysis

Data Table & Analysis
Morocco

GDP $137.126 billion
GDP real growth rate 5.90%
GDP per capita $4,362
Population living below the poverty line 15%
Life expectancy 71.8 years
Adult literacy 52.30%
Birth Rate 20.96 births/ 1,000 population
Death Rate 5.45 death/ 1,000 population
Population Growth Rate 1.48%
Age structure 0-14: 30%
15-64: 64.7%
65 and older: 5.2%

derived from CIA World Factbook

Compared to the 193 other countries in the world, Morocco has the 59th highest GDP, the 93rd highest population growth rate, and the 125th oldest life expectancy age. As the population is growing by 1.48% (93rd lowest in the world. Slightly high compared to developed countries) a year, Morocco's GDP per capita is small ($4,362. 148th lowest in the world), but is growing from year to year despite the fact that money in the Moroccan economy is having to be spread between more and more people. Since Morocco is considered a Third World developing country and it has a low GDP per capita, Moroccan citizens have poor quality of life. Although Moroccan’s are poor compared to the rest of the world, only 15% of the Moroccan population lives below the poverty line. This can be contributed to the fact that only 52.3% of the population is literate, therefore uneducated, making it harder for them to make more money. The majority of jobs in Morocco (44.6% of the labor force are farmers) don’t require an education and they have decent pay when compared to other Moroccans, so this can contribute to the fact that only 15% of the population is in poverty. Fewer school-age children are in school because Moroccan parents would rather have their children spend their time earning money through work, rather than using that time to get an education. Only 63% of school-age children attend school in Morocco (Arye L. Hillman. 2004).

Being a poor country, Morocco has poor health care, which is why only 5.2% of the population is 65 or older. The low percent of old population is due to insufficient health care, which is also a reason why 3.7% of births are fatal. Of the population that is literate, only 39% are females because the main religion is muslim (98.7% of the population), so women are traditionally treated as inferior and get married young so as to raise kids, avoiding a money making job. Although women do have the option to work, they are traditionally stay at home moms. If females do attend school, they only attend for 9 years on average, whereas males attend for 11 years on average.

Morocco’s low GDP per capita may be indirectly linked to Morocco’s geography and government. It is located in the dry Sahara desert of northern Africa, making the land poor for farming and making natural resources minimal. It does have an open economy, but because of the location it doesn’t have much to trade with other countries. Ruled by a constitutional monarchy, Morocco may have also been a possible victim of corrupt government, or the king may not have had an incentive to better the quality of living for his population (Abderrahim El Ouali.2006). The government, being ruled by Muslims, also may have no incentive to democratize or westernize because it strictly believes in Muslim tradition.

Source:
El Ouali, Abderrahim. "CORRUPTION-MOROCCO: Worries Rise With It - IPS ipsnews.net." IPS Inter Press Service. 21 Feb. 2006. Web. 09 Dec. 2009. .

Hillman, Arye L. "Educating Children in Poor Countries." International Monetary Fund. Economic Issues, 20 June 2004. Web. 8 Dec. 2009. .

Central Intelligence Agency. (2009). The World Factbook: Morocco. Updated November 7, 2009, Retrieved November 22, 2009, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iz.html

1 comment:

  1. Trent, I like how you mentioned the issue between education and earning an income. This is a common theme amongst many of the countries that we are studying. This issue leads to a large unskilled labor force if children choose to work instead of getting an education. As families believe that they would make more money by having their kids work, in the long run, it would be better to have the children be educated, so they could get better jobs, and then make more money. But I thought it was very good that you brought up this topic.

    ReplyDelete

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