About 771,683 Moroccans are currently living in Spain, making them the European country’s largest foreign community, a report from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) announced.
INE published the report on Thursday, January 28, and covers statistics as recent as July 1, 2020.
Between January and July 2020, around 21,930 Moroccans emigrated to Spain, while 8,476 Moroccans left. The migration flow of Moroccans to and from Spain marked a growth of the Moroccan community in the Iberian country by 10,968, a 1.4% increase.
Moroccans represent the second-highest number of new entries to Spain in the first six months of 2020. Colombians came first with 35,112 arrivals, while Venezuelans came third (20,273).
Moroccans are also the second-largest community to leave Spain between January and July 2020. The Romanian community represents the highest number, with 11,640 Romanians departing Spain.
The increase in the number of Moroccans residing legally in Spain was the third-biggest increase in the first half of 2020. Colombians came first, with an increase of 27,920 residents, and Venezuelans came second (+24,238).
While Moroccans are the largest foreign community in Spain, Romanians are also present in large numbers (662,904), followed by British (300,822), Colombian (289,139), and Italian (274,463) immigrants.
Moroccans represent around 1.63% of the total population living in Spain and approximately 14.49% of the foreign community.
In a report earlier this month, the Spanish Ministry of Integration, Social Security, and Migration announced that Moroccans also represent the largest community of foreign workers in Spain.
Statistics from the ministry said that approximately 262,058 Moroccans were registered in Spain’s social security system at the end of 2020. The figure represents 12.61% of foreign workers in Spain and 35.06% of workers from outside the EU.
