Morocco Sees Sharp Decline in French-Language Publications, Arabic Dominates Literary Landscape

According to this document published on the occasion of the 29th edition of the Rabat International Book Fair and Publishing, French-language production in Morocco represents only 16.31% of the total Moroccan publications between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, literary production in Arabic has reached 79.1% of the total during the period.

In the field of humanities and social sciences, publications in Arabic represent 78.29% of the total publications, compared to 17.72% for productions in French, 2.58% for those in English and 1.51% for those in Amazigh. The report specifies, however, that more than 81% of Amazigh production between 2022 and 2023 is literary (53 works in two years).

According to the Foundation, the decline in French-language production in Morocco is explained by the teaching of humanities and social sciences in Arabic in Moroccan universities since the 1970s, which has led to the emergence of several generations of Arabic-speaking researchers and authors.

Paper publications represent 92% of the total, while digital versions, mostly in French and English, are around 67% and are published by public institutions and research centers. Digital production in Arabic, on the other hand, is barely a third of the total production. It is essentially translations of productions in French and English.