Oxfam International, an organization fighting poverty around the world, recently released a report revealing that "42 people now own the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity."
To publish the study, Oxfam teamed up with Credit Suisse, RIWI, and YouGov, who conducted online surveys in ten countries, one of which is Morocco.
According to Morocco World News, the living standard of the richest 10 percent of Moroccans is 12 times higher than that of the poorest 10 percent in the country.
The inequality gap in Morocco - where minimum wages are significantly lower than the survival line - has not decreased since the 1990s.
Currently, three Moroccan billionaires hold a collective wealth of $4.5 billion between them, according to the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Wealth Report.
Their wealth is equivalent to the income of 375,000 of the poorest Moroccans over the same period. Of those surveyed for the report, 15 percent said the Moroccan government is responsible for reducing the wealth gap.
"The reality of inequalities in Morocco is well pronounced and calls for ambitious measures. It is now up to the government and the various institutions of the country to tackle the root of the scourge of inequality, creating an economic system that benefits all, not only a few privileged," said Abdeljalil Laroussi, spokesman for Oxfam in Morocco, according to Morocco World News.
The Oxfam report "reveals how our economies are rewarding wealth rather than the hard work of millions of people," Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam‘s executive director, told Reuters Television.
Morocco's wealthy society has gotten incredible media attention in recent years
In 2013, Forbes revealed that the wealth of the richest man in Morocco increased by $600 million in a single year.
In 2014, the American business magazine published a list of 5 Moroccan multi-millionaires worth more than $100 million each.
Those on the list include:
- Brahim Zniber, founder of Diana Holding, an agro-industrial conglomerate
- Saïd Alj, owner of Sanam Holding, a Moroccan investment company
- Abdelhouaded El Alami, who runs the El Alami Group, an industrial conglomerate founded in 1950
- Mohammed Karim Lamrani, a former Prime Minister and one of the country's most successful investors
- El Hachmi Boutgueray, CEO of Anwar Invest Holding
What about those living in poverty?
In 2005, Morocco launched a project called the National Human Development Initiative Support Project (INDH) aimed at improving the living conditions of the underprivileged in the country.
In recent decades, Morocco has made "substantial progress" in reducing poverty among citizens in the country, according to The World Bank.
In 2007, 8.9 percent of the population was considered poor, compared to 16.3 percent in 1998.
As of 2014, the poverty rate in Morocco fell to 4.2 percent, but "nearly 19 percent of the rural population is still living in poverty or are vulnerable," according to Fair Observer.
Morocco has 4 million people living below the poverty line, as per the Borgen Project.
Morocco is unlikely to achieve a per capita income of $1,000 by 2030
In January, Nizar Baraka, president of the Social Economic and Environmental Council (CESE), said that Morocco is unlikely to achieve a per capita income of $1,000 a month by 2030 due to "unequal distribution of wealth and insufficient regional social equity."
While the overall wealth of Morocco more than doubled between 1999 and 2013, according to Morocco World News, the spike in the unemployment rate in the country is putting its people at risk.
In August, Reuters revealed that despite "an overall increase in job creation, Morocco’s official unemployment rate slightly rose to 9.3 percent in the second quarter from 9.1 percent during the same period last year."