Young unemployed Moroccans with vocational training represent the largest share of non-migrants who want to leave Morocco in search of a better future.
Rabat – A national survey on international documented migration, carried out by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) between 2018 and 2019, revealed that nearly a quarter (23.3%) of Moroccan non-migrants intend to emigrate.
The survey covered a sample of 5,765 non-migrants from both non-migrant households (households with no migrants) and migrant households (households with at least one migrant).
The survey defines non-migrants as any Moroccan, aged between 15 and 59, who have never lived abroad for more than three months.
The intention to emigrate does not vary according to the type of household, with 23.3% individuals from non-migrant households wanting to leave Morocco and 23.8% among those from migrant households.
However, the intention varies significantly according to gender, age, and level of education.
Around 28.6% of Moroccan men want to migrate but only 17.7% of women dream of leaving Morocco.
As for age, young people intend to leave Morocco more than older ones, with 40.3% of individuals aged between 15 and 29 wanting to emigrate and only 10.3% of those aged 45-59 having the same wish.
In terms of education and training, non-migrants with vocational training represent the demographic with the most people hoping to emigrate, with 40.6%. A quarter (25%) have reached high school or higher education, while 12.4% have no formal education.
Around 41.1% of non-migrants from the Oriental region intend to emigrate, making it the region with the highest percentage, followed by Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (30.8%), Marrakech-Safi (26.7%), and Draa-Tafilalet (26.2%). Other regions recorded a percentage below the national average of 23.3%, with the region of Souss-Massa having the lowest share (10.5%).
While only a fifth (21.9%) of employed Moroccans want to migrate, more than half (50.9%) of unemployed non-migrants intend to leave the country.
More than 70% of Moroccans wanting to migrate have an economic motivation and 24.4% want to leave for social reasons. For men, the reasons are purely economic, with a share of 79.7%. However, for women, social reasons have a stronger impact, being the primary motivation in 38.1% of the cases, while economic factors are important for 53.8% of women.
About 80% of the study sample expressed that Europe is their top destination, followed by North American countries, with 8.8%, and Arab states with 2.8%.
The survey, which is part of the MEDSTAT cooperation program between the southern Mediterranean countries, aims to provide representative, retrospective, and comparative data on the characteristics and behavior of Moroccan migrants, return migrants, and non-migrants.
A second phase of the survey, concerning forced and irregular migration, is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.
