In its latest annual publication entitled “Social Indicators for Morocco,” The High Commission for Planning (HCP) announced a demographic trend heading towards “the feminization of the resident population,” along with “fewer children and a greater number of adults (most of whom are active workers or the elderly)”, according to statistical figures and data collected until the beginning of July 2022.
This 300-page document, issued by the highest national statistics institution, is divided into seven major chapters and sections that deal through data, illustrations and maps, with the status of the population demography and structure, as well as indicators on “activity, employment and unemployment,”, “Learning, Education and Training”, and “Health”, as well as “Housing and Living Conditions”, and “Moroccan Families: Growth, Income and Standards of Living”, and finally “Culture and Leisure”.
“A population marked by femininity and old age”
The “demographic share,” included in the first chapter of the same document, of which Hespress holds a copy, reviewed a set of indicators related to “population and families: specific levels and structures, marriage, divorce and widowhood, as well as fertility, migration, and many other demographic manifestations.”
The HCP confirmed that “on July 1, 2022, the Moroccan population reached a total of 36.67 million people,” stressing that the most prominent features of the population remain that it is “a population that is gradually moving towards a clear dominance of the female gender.” The feminization rate in Morocco by 2022 has reached 50.2%.
The same institution recorded that there would be a tendency for a greater percentage of women to be found among the elderly population than among children.
In terms of regions, data and figures showed that “the proportion of women remains higher than that of men in Moroccan urban cities,” however, “the opposite is true in rural areas and villages,” as the commission counted a sex ratio of 97 males per 100 females in urban cities, and a 103% percentage of women in rural areas in the year of 2022.
The HCP’s experts attributed the aforementioned trends to “two key factors”, namely rural migration and women’s longevity.
Children make up a quarter of the population
The age structure of the Moroccan population during the year 2022 shows, according to the latest statistics published by the HCP, that children and adolescents make up a quarter of the population in Morocco with a percentage of 25.2%, compared to the elderly and adults (12.2%). While the percentage of Moroccan, male and female, of working and active age exceeded 56.6%, same as last year.
The HCP noted that the “obvious population aging persists because of a longer life expectancy” and “an increasing longevity among women, particularly in urban areas”.
Crowded Moroccan cities:
As to areas or territories of residence, the HCP recorded that “the rate of urban expansion has stabilized at a percentage of 64.3%,” which confirms upward trends and “worrying” indicators of rural migration to urban cities in Morocco.
The most prominent reasons, according to the same source, are due to “urban expansion resulting from rural flight,” as well as “the expansion of the urban ranges of the most prominent cities.” In this context, the HCP highlighted “expanding urban areas: the expansion of cities and the redevelopment and rehabilitation of some rural areas.”
A demographic dependency
By 2020, the demographic dependency rate will rise to 60% according to HCP.
The dependency ratio is “average number of economically dependent population(children under 15 and people over 60) per 100 economically productive population (adults of working-age)”.
The HCP calculated “the change between 2004 and 2022,” and recorded “a 26-point decrease in child dependency,” and “a 7-point increase in the dependency indicators for the elderly”.
Elderly dependency is more prominent in “predominantly female environments, especially in rural areas.”
Through this publication, the HCP made available to various stakeholders, researchers and data users, “a set of indicators capable of drawing a social picture to facilitate decision-making and provide the necessary elements for evaluating public policies.”
Besides those issued by the HCP, the publication provides data from several ministerial sectors, notably health, vocational education and training, youth and sports, as well as administrative records or research surveys conducted by public administrations.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.