In France, mothers born in Morocco are having far fewer children than they did ten years ago

The INSEE’s definitive data on births in 2024 make it possible to track mothers separately according to their country of birth. In 2024, 18 640 children were born in France to a mother born in Morocco.

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There were still 25 741 in 2015. Over nine years, their number therefore fell by around 28%, meaning more than 7 100 fewer births per year.

The decline is even more pronounced compared with the recent peak recorded in 2014, with 26 311 births to mothers born in Morocco. Since then, their number has fallen by nearly 29%.

The decline among Moroccan mothers exceeds that of births overall

The trend is part of the general decline in France’s birth rate, but it is more pronounced among mothers born in Morocco. All origins combined, 798 948 babies were born in France in 2015, compared with 660 787 in 2024, a decrease of around 17%. For mothers born in Morocco, the decline therefore approaches 28% over the same period.

Despite this, Morocco remains one of the main countries of birth of foreign mothers. In 2024, INSEE recorded 23 615 births to mothers born in Algeria and 18 640 to mothers born in Morocco. Tunisia followed with 9 674 births.

A different trend can also be seen among the three Maghreb countries. While the number of births to mothers born in Morocco has fallen sharply since 2015, the number for mothers born in Tunisia rose from 8 571 to 9 674. For Algeria, it fell from 29 265 to 23 615.

These figures do not, on their own, mean that every woman born in Morocco is having fewer children than before. The annual number of births also depends on the number and age of Moroccan women living in France. INSEE nevertheless established in a study devoted to the fertility of immigrant women that the fertility of women born in the Maghreb had itself declined in previous years.

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This decline is occurring in an unprecedented demographic context in France. Since 2025, deaths have outnumbered births there, and population growth now depends, in the short term, on a positive net migration balance. Births to one of the country’s largest immigrant populations are therefore also following a clearly downward trend.