The regional director of the High Commission for Planning (HCP) of the Béni Mellal-Khénifra region, Rachid Toursi, indicated that the number of legal inhabitants in this region amounts to 2,525,801 people, or 6.9% of the population of the Kingdom.
During a meeting held last Friday to present the results of the 2024 General Population and Housing Census, Toursi specified that the annual demographic growth rate reached 0.02% between 2014 and 2024, while the The region’s urbanization rate increased from 49.1% in 2014 to 50.8% in 2024.
He also added, during this meeting chaired by the wali of the region and governor of the province of Béni Mellal, Mohamed Benribag, in the presence of heads of external services and regional security officials, that the synthetic index of fertility is now 1.95 children per woman.
Thus, Toursi also noted a notable improvement in the school enrollment rate of children aged 6 to 11, which reached 96.2%. This improvement is particularly marked among girls, with a rate increasing from 89.3% to 95.4%. Furthermore, the illiteracy rate decreased by 7 points, from 39.1% in 2014 to 32% in 2024.
In terms of economic challenges, the regional director revealed a drop in the proportion of the active population aged 15 and over. This rate, which was 43.7% in 2014, is currently 37.3%.
Regarding the economic census, another major operation carried out by the High Commission for Planning (the mapping of economic establishments) reveals that the total number of companies active in the region reaches 83,999, of which 81.1% are companies for-profit, i.e. 68,724 entities.
For his part, Benribag insisted on the importance of exploiting this data to improve the region’s socio-economic and development indicators, while guiding development projects.
The wali called on all stakeholders as well as heads of external services to actively participate in the implementation of concrete action plans, in order to meet the needs of the population and ensure harmonious and sustainable growth.
