According to the results of the RGPH 2024, the legal population of our country amounts to 36,828,330 inhabitants on September 1, 2024. Compared to the 2014 census, the number of the population increased by 2,980,088 people, reflecting a rate of average annual growth of 0.85%, significantly lower than the rate of 1.25% recorded between 2004 and 2014.
This demographic increase is mainly driven by the dynamics of the urban population, which increased from 20,432,439 inhabitants in 2014 to 23,110,108 in 2024, recording an average annual growth rate of 1.24%. At the same time, the rural population experienced moderate growth, increasing from 13,415,803 people in 2014 to 13,718,222 in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 0.22%.
The demographic dynamics observed between 2014 and 2024 are mainly driven by the regions of the Casablanca-Settat axis, Rabat-Salé-Kenitra and Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, on the one hand, and by the regions of Marrakech-Safi and Souss -Massa on the other hand. These regions contribute 86.2% to the overall population growth and have average annual growth rates which exceed the national average during this same period.
In terms of urbanization, the weight of the population residing in urban areas reached 62.8% in 2024, compared to 60.4% in 2014. This rate of urbanization is particularly high in the regions of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra ( 92.4%), Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab (80.4%), Casablanca-Settat (73.3%) and Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (70.7%). On the other hand, the lowest rates are found in the regions of Marrakech-Safi (46.0%) and Drâa-Tafilalet (36.7%).
The spatial distribution of the population reveals that 71.2% of the inhabitants are concentrated in five regions, each with more than four million inhabitants. The Casablanca-Settat region comes first, with 7.689 million people, followed by Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, with 5.133 million, Marrakech-Safi, with 4.892 million, Fez-Meknes with 4.468 million, and Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima , with 4.030 million. The rest of the population is distributed among the other regions, with numbers ranging from 3,020 million for Souss-Massa to 219,965 in Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab.
The distribution of urban households in 2024 according to the type of housing occupied shows that 65.4% reside in modern Moroccan houses, followed by apartments6 (24.4%), traditional Moroccan houses (2.6%), villas ( 2.7%). Compared to 2014, these proportions were respectively around 65%, 17.5%, 5.5% and 4.5%.
Concerning basic housing or slums in urban areas, their proportion fell from 5.2% in 2014 to 3.3% in 2024. Likewise, the proportion of rural or local type housing not intended for housing increased from 2.4% in 2014 to 1.7% in 2024. In rural areas, the share of rural type housing (rammed or solid housing) has decreased by 64.1% in 2014 to 53.3% in 2024 for the benefit of modern Moroccan house type housing, the proportion of which increased from 25.9% to 37.6%.
In 2024, the distribution of urban households by region and the type of housing occupied shows that the proportion of basic or slum housing is greater in the regions of Casablanca-Settat (7.6%), Fez-Meknes (2.9% ), Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (2.7%), Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra (2.5%) and Marrakech-Safi (2.2%). In other regions, this incidence of unsanitary housing varies from 0.2% in the region of Guelmim-Oued Noun to 1.5% in that of Béni Mellal-Khénifra.
On another level, this time in relation to basic services, the RGPH demonstrates that the proportion of households with electricity rises to 97.1% in 2024, compared to 91.6% in 2014. During the same period, this proportion increased from 95.2% to 98.7% in urban areas and from 84.6% to 93.8% in rural areas. Regarding drinking water, the share of households connected to the drinking water network increased from 73.0% in 2014 to 82.9% in 2024. This increase is more marked in rural areas, from 37.8 % at 54.6%, and tends to generalize in urban areas, with a rate of 97.1% in 2024, against 91.3% in 2014. Concerning other equipped sources of drinking water (fountain, well, Matfia or water point), they are used by 8.9% of households, 23.6% in rural areas and 1.6% in urban areas.
At the regional level, the proportions of rural households connected to the drinking water network are lowest in the regions of Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima (27.5%), Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (31.4%) and Laâyoune. -Sakia El Hamra (36.6%). Conversely, the regions of Souss-Massa and Drâa-Tafilalet show rates above 86%. Furthermore, 93.4% of urban households, in 2024, live in housing connected to the sewer network, compared to 88.2% in 2014, while 4.6% have septic tanks, compared to 9.6% ten years earlier. In rural areas, septic tanks and soakaway wells represent the main method of wastewater disposal, with 70.3% in 2024 compared to 70.5% in 2014.
As we can see, when it comes to a decent roof, there is still a lot of progress to be made…
H.Z
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