Morocco stable following elections.

The political situation in Morocco garnered a fair amount of attention as far back as January 2007 when Foreign Policy (Washington) listed the country's (then) upcoming September 2007 elections as worthy of note. The well respected journal is published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The journal is known for recently developing and publishing the Failed States Index.

In its January 2007 prediction, Foreign Policy said that the country's legal Islamist political party--there's also an illegal one--would do well in the September 2007 elections, much to the consternation of "worried" Western governments.

While it is completely unfair to judge Foreign Policy by its months ago prediction, the fact that the Islamists made a rather poor showing in Morocco in September is illustrative of the skewed reasoning many observers bring to a discussion of Morocco's place in the world economy.

On September 10, 2007, in a closely reasoned review of Morocco's election results, the Christian Science Monitor (Boston) said, "Morocco has been held up as one of the most reform-minded nations in the Arab world. It has a diversity of civil-society groups, has passed a code of women's rights, and, according to observers, held relatively fair elections in 2002."

The Monitor adds, "But in Morocco's political system, King Mohamed VI appoints the prime minister, who in turn chooses government ministers." The country's parliament has little power.

Thus, Morocco's small consumer class has been witness to government lip service toward reform. Jobs for young people are in short supply. The Monitor, citing the World Bank as its source, says "Nearly 5 million of Morocco's 33 million people live on less than $2 a day."

In an October 24, 2007 brief on Morocco's economy, The Economist (London) said it expected the monarchy to end the year with GDP expanding 3.1 percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates 2007 Moroccan GDP growth at 2.5 percent. The IMF lists 2006 Moroccan growth at 8.0 percent. But The Economist says Morocco will not see that kind of growth through 2012, instead growing "in the range of 4.0 to 6.0 percent."

JOBS, EDUCATION, AND CORRUPTION ISSUES MAR MOROCCAN PROGRESS

The population growth rate for Morocco is lower than the regional average, due in part to a birth rate of 21 per thousand inhabitants, which is below the average of 26 per thousand for North Africa. Job creation has not kept up with growth of the labor force in recent years, and it is unlikely that the situation will improve further in 2007. Urban unemployment is running about 15 percent, and this continues to stifle consumer confidence.

Morocco's population reached 32-million people mid-2007, which amounted to just over 16 percent of North Africa's 195-million inhabitants. According to data released by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Morocco's population will reach 39-million by 2025. Also, according to that source, Morocco is going to have a population of 45-million people in 2050.

The PRB revealed that a substantial 55 percent of Morocco's population lived in urban areas during 2007, and that the country's population density is a comparatively moderate 184 people per square mile.Morocco is almost exactly the same size as Sweden in land area, but Morocco has more than 3.5 times as many inhabitants. The CIA's World Factbook, says 31 percent of Morocco's population was birth to 14 years old in 2007, 64 percent was 15 to 64 years old, and 5 percent of the populace was 65 years of age and over.

The CIA estimates that the country's population growth rate was 1.53 percent in 2007. According to the United Nations Population Division, in the year 2050, 20 percent of Morocco's population will be birth to 14 years old, while 59 percent will be aged 15 to 59, and 21 percent of the populace will be 60 years of age and over.