Over the years, the rate of population growth in Morocco has declined, due to the decline in fertility. In 2024, the Total Fertility Index is 1.97 children per woman, compared to 2.2 in 2014 and 2.5 in 2004, according to the results of the latest general population and housing census (RGPH) .
Presented at a press conference on Tuesday at the High Commission for Planning (HCP), these detailed data show that the trend concerns women as much in urban areas (1.77 children in 2024 compared to 2.01 in 2014) as rural (2.37 versus 2.55).
As a result of these changes, the demographic structure is experiencing accelerated aging, notes the HCP. Indeed, young people under 15 went from 28.2% in 2014 to 26.5% in 2024). Likewise, the population of working age follows the same trend, increasing from 62.4% to 59.7% over the same period.
Conversely, the share of people aged 60 is increasing, going from 9.4% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2024. According to the same source, population aged 60 and over constitutes 5 million people in 2024, compared to 3.2 million in 2014, an annual increase of 4.6%. This rate remains higher than the evolution of the entire population (0.85%), reports the HCP.
Furthermore, the average annual growth rate is 0.85%, down from 1.25% (between 2004 and 2014). According to the HCP, this trend is driven mainly by the urban population (23.11 million in 2024 compared to 20.43 million in 2014), which experienced an annual rate of change of 1.24%.
As a result, the increase in the rural population remains modest, going from 13.42 million to 13.72 million, with an annual rate of 0.22%.
In this context, the urbanization rate in the country reached 62.8% in 2024, compared to 60.4% in 2014.
Overall, the population of Morocco reached 36,828,330 inhabitants on September 1, 2024, an increase of 2,980,088 people since 2014.
