Morocco's 2024 census completed : A cost-effective approach with reduced refusal rates

The High Commissioner for Planning, Ahmed Lahlimi, has announced the successful completion of the General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH 2024). He highlighted that all the census data had been securely stored in the institution's data management center.

During a press conference in Rabat on Thursday, Lahlimi explained that HCP executives had centralized the information collected via tablet computers used by census workers, which were later handed over to the Ministry of National Education.

He also noted a significant reduction in refusals to participate in the census, dropping from 17,676 to 3,443 by the last day, which represents a decrease from 0.29% to 0.04%. The reasons for refusal varied, with some citing mistrust in the census process, concerns over its impact on social assistance, or dissatisfaction with their social standing.

Lahlimi also highlighted the benefits of Morocco's dual-form census method, which combined both detailed and brief forms to capture a representative sample while reducing the overall cost by 453%. This approach led to a 24% savings of the total budget allocated to the census. Additionally, it shortened the time needed per questionnaire and allowed for the inclusion of new questions, speeding up the publication of the results.

The High Commissioner pointed out that the dual-form method is common in many countries. In Morocco, the exhaustive form accounted for 30% of the data collected, compared to 25% in Canada, 16% in the USA, 11% in Mexico, and 10% in Egypt.

Regarding census costs per person per year, Lahlimi revealed that it was $1 in Morocco, compared to $4 in the USA, $3 in Canada, $0.8 in Tunisia, and $0.3 in Egypt. He explained that these differences were influenced by factors such as population size and density, the complexity of census questions, and the level of technology used in data collection.