Official data point to accelerating demographic and social changes in Morocco, marked by a rapidly ageing population, fertility falling below the replacement level, smaller household sizes, later marriage and rising levels of lifelong singlehood, alongside the growing prevalence of nuclear families and people living alone.
According to the “Social Indicators of Morocco 2026” report published by the High Commission for Planning (HCP), the share of people aged 60 and over increased from 9.4% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2024. Over the same period, the fertility rate fell to 1.97 children per woman, while the average household size declined from 4.6 to 3.9 people.
The number of people aged 60 and over approached five million in 2024, compared with 3.2 million in 2014, recording average annual growth of 4.6%, more than five times the growth rate of the overall population, which stood at only 0.85%.
Meanwhile, the proportion of children under 15 fell from 28.2% in 2014 to 26.5% in 2024, while the share of people aged between 15 and 59 declined from 62.4% to 59.7%. The demographic dependency ratio reached 67.5% in 2024, reflecting a decline in child dependency alongside a rise in elderly dependency.
Fertility has followed a long-term downward trajectory, falling from 5.5 children per woman in 1982 to 3.3 in 1994, 2.47 in 2004 and 2.22 in 2014, before reaching 1.97 in 2024. This is below the replacement threshold of 2.1 children per woman.
The rate stood at 1.77 children per woman in urban areas, compared with 2.37 in rural areas. Four regions remained above the replacement threshold: Drâa-Tafilalet at 2.35 children per woman, Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab at 2.25, Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra at 2.17 and Marrakech-Safi at 2.13. The Oriental region recorded the lowest rate at 1.73 children per woman.
At the same time, the number of Moroccan households increased from 7.31 million in 2014 to 9.27 million in 2024, growing at an average annual rate of 2.4%, considerably faster than the population. Yet the average household size declined from 4.6 to 3.9 people.
Preliminary findings from the 2025 National Family Survey show that nuclear households now account for 73% of all households, compared with 60.8% three decades ago. Single-person households also increased from 3.9% in 1995 to 5.9% in 2025.
The average age at first marriage reached 28.5 years in 2024, standing at 29 years in urban areas and 27.5 years in rural areas. The average was 32.4 years for men compared with 24.6 years for women.
At age 50, the proportion of people who had never married reached 9.7% among men and 12.4% among women in 2024. Compared with 2014, the rate increased by 2.4 percentage points among men and 4.1 points among women.
Marriage registrations also declined, falling from 249,100 in 2023 to 239,300 in 2024, a decrease of 3.9%. Divorce registrations fell by 5.7%, from 27,800 to 26,200.
A notable shift has occurred in the nature of divorce: nine out of ten divorce registrations in 2024 were by mutual consent, compared with around one-third in 2008. Court-ordered divorces declined from 67,600 cases in 2023 to 65,500 in 2024, with divorce on grounds of marital discord accounting for 98.6% of these rulings.
Combined divorce registrations and court-ordered divorce judgments amounted to 91,700 cases in 2024. Preliminary findings from the 2025 National Family Survey put the annual divorce rate at 3.6 cases per 1,000 inhabitants nationally, compared with 4.3 per 1,000 in urban areas and 2.5 per 1,000 in rural areas.
Taken together, these indicators point to a gradual transformation of Morocco’s demographic and family structure, characterized by population ageing, declining fertility, smaller households, later marriage, rising levels of singlehood and the growing prevalence of nuclear families and people living alone.