Morocco, Africa’s new land of welcome
At the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and the Arab world, Morocco is no longer just a country of transit or emigration. In the space of a decade, it has become a destination for migration in its own right.
Between 2014 and 2017, more than 50,000 sub-Saharan migrants were regularized in Morocco. In 2024, there are 88,800 (59.9% of foreigners) and they represent the largest foreign community in the Kingdom
The 2024 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH), published in November 2025 by the High Commissioner’s Office for Planning, provides the figures to prove it: 148,152 foreign nationals live in Morocco, representing 0.4% of the 36.8 million inhabitants. This is 64,151 more people than in 2014, an increase of 76.4%.
This is a historic turning point In 1971, there were still 112,000 foreigners; by 1994, there were only 50,000. The curve began to rise again in 2004 with 51,435 individuals, accelerated after 2014, and has literally exploded since the end of the pandemic.
This trajectory coincides with two major political decisions: the National Immigration and Asylum Strategy (SNIA) adopted in 2013 and the major regularization campaigns of 2014 and 2017.
For the first time, the census includes a comprehensive migration module. In partnership with the GTMA network, the HCP trained and deployed around 100 migrants and refugees as liaison officers in eight cities: Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakesh, Tangiers, Fez, Oujda, Agadir, and Beni Mellal. The result is unprecedented coverage of populations that are sometimes in irregular situations.
The picture that emerges is one of a continental shift. Sub-Saharan Africans now make up 59.9% of foreigners, compared to 26.8% in 2014, Europeans account for only 20.3% compared to 40%, North Africans 6% compared to 13%, and the MENA region outside North Africa 7.3% compared to 13.3%. Asia remains stable at 4.1%, and North America at 1.8%.
Immigration is very recent. More than half of foreigners, 55.3%, arrived since 2021, 35.8% between 2011 and 2020, only 5.4% between 2001 and 2010, and 3.4% before 2000. In other words, nine out of ten foreigners have been living in France for less than fifteen years.
For the first time, we know the reasons they gave for coming. Work is by far the most common reason, at 53.3%, followed by family reasons at 20.8% and education at 14%.
Next come war or insecurity (2.5%), retirement (2.2%), and investment or business (1.8%).
Behind these cold figures lie individual stories, families settling down, children being born here, and mixed couples forming. The rest of the census reveals the extent to which this young and active population is putting down lasting roots in Moroccan society.o
Radia LAHLOU
