Module 027 · Demographics
The Demographic Atlas
36.8 million people. Two countries in one census.
The 2024 RGPH census — the seventh — counted 36,828,330 Moroccans. The number matters less than what it reveals: a country splitting into two demographic timelines. In the coastal cities, fertility has collapsed below replacement, divorce is rising, and one in five households is led by a woman. In the interior and the south, larger families, earlier marriages, and higher illiteracy persist. Casablanca is converging with Europe. The Atlas is not.
36.8M
total population
2024 RGPH Census
1.97
fertility rate
below 2.1 replacement
30.1
median age
up from 26.2 in 2004
62.8%
urbanisation
up from 60.4% in 2014
Population by Region
12 regions. Hover for urbanisation, illiteracy, growth, fertility. Bar width = population share.
Casablanca-Settat alone holds 20.9% of the country. The fastest-growing region is Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab (2.35%/yr) — the smallest by population but the highest growth rate in the kingdom. The slowest: Béni Mellal-Khénifra (0.45%/yr), the interior heartland bleeding population to the coast.
The Pyramid
Population by age and sex. The narrowing base = fewer children being born.
Sex ratio: 102 males per 100 females
26.5%
aged 0–14
down from 28.2% (2014)
66.1%
aged 15–64
working age — the dividend window
7.8%
aged 65+
up from 5.7% — aging begins
The Fertility Collapse
Total fertility rate, 1960–2024. From 7.2 to 1.97 children per woman. Below replacement.
−73%
since 1960
Urban fertility
~1.8
Coastal cities below 1.8 children per woman. Casablanca, Rabat converging with southern Europe. Birth rate 16.9 per 1,000 — half of what it was in 1980.
Rural fertility
~2.3+
Southern and mountain provinces — Taounate, Chefchaouen, Drâa-Tafilalet — above 2.3. Two Moroccos: one converging with Europe, one holding to tradition.
The Gender Gap
Literacy (2024)
Gap: 15.2 points. Down from 19.9 in 2014 — closing but not closed.
Illiteracy (2024)
32.4% of women cannot read. 51% of Moroccans over 50 are illiterate.
Labour participation
One of the lowest female labour rates in MENA. Down from 25% in 2012.
Illiteracy by region (2024)
The Marriage Revolution
Morocco's divorce rate hit 50%. Marriage age is falling. Singlehood is rising. The family is transforming.
249K
marriages registered 2024
65.5K
divorces filed 2024
89.3%
divorces by mutual consent
~50%
divorce-to-marriage ratio
Marriage
— Average age at first marriage: women 24.6 (down from 25.7)
— Average age at first marriage: men 31.9
— Child marriage (under 18): fell from 15.9% to 8.4% (2004→2024)
— Under-15 marriage: 2.5% → 0.2% — nearly eradicated
— 40% of women over 15 are unmarried
— Single at 50: rose from 3.9% to 11.1% in rural areas
Divorce
— Divorce cases: 44,408 (2014) → 67,556 (2023) → 65,475 (2024)
— 89.3% of divorces by mutual consent (up from 63.1% in 2014)
— Highest rates: Laâyoune, Tan-Tan provinces (>3.75%)
— Urban centres Casablanca, Rabat follow closely
— Male divorcees (45–49): 20.9% → 32% of that cohort
— Widowhood concentrated in rural Atlas/Souss (>6%)
The Household Transformation
9.27M
total households
up from 7.31M (2014)
19.2%
female-headed
1.77M households. Up from 16.2%
11.1%
single-person
up from 7.2% (2014)
57.2%
families of 4+
down from 66.5% — families shrinking
31.7%
2–3 member households
up from 26.1% — couples without children rising
28.9%
women living alone
up from 16.3% (2004) — independence rising
Reading Notes
Two Timelines
The most important number in this census is not the total — it is the gap between coastal and interior fertility. Below 1.8 in Casablanca. Above 2.3 in Drâa-Tafilalet. One Morocco is converging with Europe's ageing future. The other is still young. Policy designed for one will fail the other.
The Women Question
32.4% female illiteracy. 19.8% labour participation. 19.2% female-headed households. These three numbers describe a contradiction: women are increasingly leading families while being excluded from formal economies and education. The cooperatives — argan, textile, agriculture — fill some of that gap. But the structural deficit remains.
The Divorce Signal
50% divorce-to-marriage ratio. 89% by mutual consent. This is not dysfunction — it is modernisation. When women gain economic independence, divorce rates rise everywhere. The question is whether social protection systems keep pace: pensions, housing, childcare for 1.77 million female-headed households.
Population Density — Mapped
The census counts bodies. But what it really measures is time — who has it, who is running out of it. In Casablanca, time looks like Europe: fewer children, later marriages, longer lives, lonelier ones. In the mountains, time looks like the Morocco of a generation ago: large families, early marriages, illiteracy that persists because the school is too far or the daughter is needed at home. The 36.8 million are one country on paper. In practice, they are living in two different centuries.
Sources
Population totals: RGPH 2024, 7th General Census (HCP). Regional breakdown: HCP preliminary results (Nov 2024, Morocco World News). Age structure: UN World Population Prospects 2024. Fertility: HCP 2024 census (1.97 TFR, Bladi Dec 2024); historical TFR from World Bank/Macrotrends. Marriage/divorce: HCP “Moroccan Women in Figures” 2024; Minister Ouahbi statement (Dec 2024); CSPJ statistics 2017–2021 (MWN Jun 2023). Literacy/illiteracy: HCP census 2024 (MWN Dec 2024). Household data: HCP census (Benmoussa statement, MWN Dec 2024). Labour participation: World Bank 2022. Urbanisation: HCP census 2024. Regional fertility urban/rural split: Hespress analysis (Sep 2025), Policy Center for the New South (2024). Pyramid data: UN estimates for Morocco 2024 (medium variant). All rates approximate; census microdata not yet fully published at time of compilation.
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