More women can read and write Arabic, French, and English than men in Morocco. This trend spans all of the Kingdom's regions, encompassing both urban and rural areas, according to the 2024 General Census. Women in Morocco are more inclined to learn languages than men. Data compiled by the Higher Planning Commission (HCP) and published recently in its 2024 General Census support this, with figures suggesting that more Moroccan women speak Arabic, French, and English than their male counterparts. According to the HCP, 21.3% of Morocco's literate population aged 10 and above, who can read and write in Arabic, French, and English, are women. This percentage is higher than that of men, which stands at only 18.4%. This trend remains consistent in both rural and urban Morocco. Literate girls aged 10 and above who master the three languages dominate urban areas, accounting for 25.3%. Men, in comparison, record a rate of 23.2% in the same category. In rural Morocco, where the combined proficiency in Arabic, French, and English among literate Moroccans aged 10 and above is 9.3%, women still lead. While the percentage of rural men proficient in the three languages stands at 8.3%, women's rate is higher at 10.7%. Women take the lead in both urban and rural Morocco Regionally, women continue to excel, with Morocco's largest urban areas taking the lead. For instance, more women can read and write Arabic, French, and English in regions housing Morocco's biggest urban centers, such as Casablanca and Rabat. In the Casablanca-Settat region, home to over 7 million people, 24.6% of the literate population aged 10 and above who speak the three languages are women. Men in the same region represent only 21.9% of this category. A similar trend is observed in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, which ranks second in proficiency in the three languages among its literate population aged 10 and above. In this region, 23% of the literate population master Arabic, French, and English, with women scoring higher at 24.6% compared to 21.6% for men. This pattern is consistent across other regions, such as Souss-Massa (23.2% for women compared to 20.4% for men), Guelmim-Oued Noun (21.2% compared to 19.6%), Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra (19.9% compared to 17.5%), and Marrakech-Safi (19.9% compared to 17.5%). Despite their ability to read and write in Arabic, French, and English combined, data show that more men stay in school longer than women. According to the HCP, 25% of the country's female population has only primary education, compared to 28.7% for men. Women with only a secondary education (having attended middle school) represent 14.4%, compared to 19.8% among men. The same trend is observed at the high school level, with 11.1% of women compared to 13.2% of men. For higher education, slightly more men achieve this level than women, with 10.4% compared to 10.1%. In a more detailed breakdown, 99.2% of Morocco's literate population aged 10 and above can read and write Arabic, 57.7% can do so in French, and only 20.5% in English. French and English proficiency is higher in urban areas, with 64.3% and 25.2% of the literate population aged 10 and above, respectively, compared to 42.1% and 9.6% in rural areas.
