Arab Barometer: 34% of Moroccans Wish to Leave Morocco

Laayoune – 34% of Moroccans want to migrate out of the country, according to data from the Arab Barometer’s July 2022 report.

Morocco has the sixth-highest percentage of residents who wish to leave the country among MENA nations, the report found. Jordan had the highest percentage with 48%, while Egypt had the lowest with 13%.

The report is part of the seventh edition of the Arab Barometer’s annual report, which details the results of a survey on migration, conducted in 2021 and 2022 on over 23,000 respondents across ten countries in the MENA region.

The survey listed some of the reasons that the respondents gave for wishing to leave their countries. 66% of Moroccans said they wanted to leave Morocco for economic reasons, while 19% said they wished to pursue their education abroad, and only 3% claimed to want to migrate for security reasons.

As for their preferred destination, 22% of the surveyed Moroccans stated they wanted to migrate to France, 21% wish to leave for Canada, 19% opted for Germany, and only 15% want to leave Morocco to go to the United States.

This year’s survey also found that only 28% of Moroccans who approve of migration are above 30 years old, whereas 47% are aged between 18 and 29 years.

Of the Moroccan respondents who expressed a desire to emigrate, 41% were males while 27% were females, the survey revealed.

Regarding education level, the survey showed that 40% of those Moroccan seeking to leave the country hold a university degree, while 32% only possess high school degrees or below.

In addition, 53% of Moroccan respondents expressed their willingness to migrate out of the country even if they do not have the appropriate papers. This is the highest percentage among the surveyed MENA countries. Of this category, 60% were male respondents, while 40% were females.