Morocco’s total fertility rate (TFR) stood at 1.97 children per woman in 2024, down from 2.22 in 2014 and 2.5 in 2004. The country is now below the population replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Behind this national average, however, lie significant regional disparities, according to the latest social indicators published by the High Commission for Planning (HCP).
The gap between the region with the lowest fertility rate and the one with the highest reached 0.62 children per woman, ranging from 1.73 in the Oriental region to 2.35 in Drâa-Tafilalet. Four regions remained above the replacement threshold of 2.1 children per woman in 2024.
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Drâa-Tafilalet ranked first with 2.35 children per woman, followed by Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab (2.25), Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra (2.17), and Marrakech-Safi (2.13). The remaining eight regions fell below the replacement level. Fès-Meknès (2.02) and Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma (2.01) were the closest, both just above two children per woman. They were followed by Béni Mellal-Khénifra (1.95), Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (1.91), Casablanca-Settat (1.90), Guelmim-Oued Noun (1.89), and Souss-Massa (1.86), while the Oriental region recorded the Kingdom’s lowest fertility rate at 1.73.
Total fertility rate by region (children per woman)
In 10 of Morocco’s 12 regions, rural fertility rates exceeded urban ones, mirroring the national pattern. The widest gap was recorded in Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, where the rural fertility rate stood at 2.49 children per woman, compared with 1.70 in urban areas—a difference of 0.79. Marrakech-Safi followed, with 2.48 in rural areas versus 1.78 in urban areas, while Fès-Meknès recorded 2.46 compared with 1.80.
In Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, the difference was almost nonexistent, with a rural fertility rate of 2.19 and an urban rate of 2.17. Two regions bucked the national trend.
In Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab, the urban fertility rate (2.26) exceeded the rural rate (1.90), a gap of 0.36 in favor of urban areas. Guelmim-Oued Noun showed the same pattern on a smaller scale, with an urban fertility rate of 1.90 compared with 1.85 in rural areas.
Completed fertility—which measures the actual number of children born to women who have completed their reproductive years—confirms these regional differences, though at higher levels because it reflects the reproductive behavior of older generations. Nationally, completed fertility stands at 2.8 children per woman, compared with 2.5 in urban areas and 3.4 in rural areas.
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Drâa-Tafilalet again recorded the highest figure, at 3.5 children per woman, followed by Marrakech-Safi (3.1) and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab (3.0). Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, and Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra each stood at 2.9. Fès-Meknès, Souss-Massa, and Guelmim-Oued Noun all recorded 2.8. Casablanca-Settat posted the Kingdom’s lowest completed fertility rate at 2.5, followed by the Oriental region and Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, both at 2.6.
Completed fertility by region (children per woman)
Nationally, Morocco’s total fertility rate has almost halved over the past three decades, falling from 3.3 children per woman in 1994 to 1.97 in 2024, with intermediate levels of 2.5 in 2004 and 2.22 in 2014. The decline affected all reproductive age groups, though unevenly. Among women aged 30 to 34—the country’s most fertile age group—the fertility rate dropped from 152.1 to 100.5 births per 1,000 women between 1994 and 2024. Among women aged 25 to 29, it declined from 136.8 to 106.2 per 1,000, while among those aged 20 to 24, it fell from 114.9 to 73.1 per 1,000. The sharpest decline was recorded among women aged 45 to 49, whose fertility rate fell from 32.0 to 3.7 per 1,000.
Age-specific fertility rates (per 1,000 women) and national total fertility rate
In 2024, the urban-rural gap was evident across every reproductive age group. It was widest among women aged 20 to 24, where the rural fertility rate (105.0 per 1,000) was nearly twice the urban rate (56.7 per 1,000). The gap narrowed progressively with age and became minimal after age 40, with fertility rates of 27.2 per 1,000 in urban areas and 32.0 per 1,000 in rural areas among women aged 40 to 44.
The fertility rate among adolescents aged 15 to 19 fell from 28.6 per 1,000 in 1994 to 11.29 per 1,000 in 2024, after temporarily rising to 22.5 per 1,000 in 2014 following an initial decline to 19.1 per 1,000 in 2004. In urban areas, the rate dropped from 20.7 to 7.72 per 1,000 over the same period. In rural areas, where it remained more than twice as high as in urban areas, it declined from 36.4 to 16.79 per 1,000.
Fertility rate among adolescents aged 15-19 (per 1,000 women)
The average age at first birth increased from 21.8 years in 1988 to 24.9 years in 2010. Over the same period, the average number of children per woman across all birth orders fell sharply from 4.41 to 2.17. The decline was particularly pronounced among higher-order births. The contribution of births of order eight and above fell from 0.93 to 0.05 children per woman, while sixth-order births declined from 0.41 to 0.07 and fifth-order births from 0.48 to 0.14.
The overall contraceptive prevalence rate reached 72.8% nationwide in 2025, up from 19.4% in 1979. The once-wide gap between urban and rural areas—36.0% versus 9.7% in 1979—has largely disappeared, with prevalence rates reaching 73.5% in urban areas and 71.6% in rural areas in 2025.
Overall contraceptive prevalence rate (%)
The prevalence of modern contraceptive methods increased more modestly, rising from 54.8% in 2004 to 58.0% in 2018. The trend also shifted between urban and rural areas. In rural areas, the rate increased from 53.2% to 61.1%, while in urban areas it edged down slightly from 56.0% to 55.9%, meaning rural areas now report higher use of modern contraceptive methods than urban areas.
