Census 2024 Moroccans are aging
For his first public appearance, Chakib Benmoussa didn’t take the easy way out. The new head of the HCP (High Commissioner’s Office for Planning) had to present and comment on the main results of the latest 2024 Population and Housing Census.
The former minister insisted on his commitment to the independence of this constitutional body. In his own words, this was no mere rhetoric. Indeed, during this exercise, he did not shy away from asserting that the national unemployment average has risen from 16.2% in 2014 to 21.3% in 2024. The female employment rate remains low. However, the High Commissioner for Planning was keen to put these rates into perspective: the census is about collecting declarations. The regular survey, on the other hand, has data verification mechanisms.
In any case, the proportion of Moroccan households living in dwellings with one or two bedrooms or less reached 43.5%, or around 4 million families, out of a total of 9 million Moroccan households living in apartments. It has to be said that this figure has increased compared with the 2014 census, when the proportion of households living in one- or two-room dwellings was 35.7%. In contrast, the proportion of dwellings with three or more rooms fell from 64.3% to 56.5%, according to the census results. Chakib Benmoussa explained the reduction in the size of dwellings by the decrease in the number of members per household, which is now less than four, and by the urbanization policy, which is growing year by year.
Demographic structure
On another front, Morocco’s demographic structure is undergoing accelerated ageing. The proportion of young people under 15 is declining (from 28.2% in 2014 to 26.5% in 2024), as is that of the working-age population (from 62.4% to 59.7%). On the other hand, the proportion of the population aged 60 and over will increase from 9.4% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2024. The population aged 60 and over will number 5 million in 2024, compared with 3.2 million in 2014. In addition, households are smaller in size. For example, as of September 1st, the number of households stood at 9.275 million, compared with 7.313 million in 2014. This corresponds to an average annual growth rate of 2.4% versus 2.6% during the period 2004-2014. Similarly, the average household size decreased, reaching 3.9 persons in 2024…
Breakdown per type of establishment
During his presentation, Chakib Benmoussa also addressed the issue of economic establishments outside the agricultural sector. This operation is part of a comprehensive geo-referenced census of business entities in the public and private sectors, operating in business premises and weekly markets. A total of 1,304,564 active economic entities were surveyed and geo-referenced throughout the country. The breakdown per type shows that for-profit establishments dominate, with 86.6%, followed by public service entities with 11.3% and non-government facilities operating from independent premises with 2.1%.
More women in the service sector
Women managers are more represented in the service sector. According to the census results, 10% of entities are run by women. This rate rises to 13.2% in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, followed by Dakhla-Oued Eddahab and Laâyoune Sakia El Hamra with 12.6% and 12.5% respectively. Entities run by women employ more than 281,300 permanent workers, or 7.8% of total employment in establishments. 91% of establishments run by women are small, employing fewer than 4 people. Per line of business, 14.6% of entities in the service sector, and 13.5% in the industrial sector are run by women.
Mohamed CHAOUI
