The Maghrebis, the community most affected by unemployment in Belgium

According to official data, people of foreign origin are structurally overrepresented in unemployment statistics in Belgium. 41.5% of all unemployed people have entirely Belgian parents. As for the remaining majority - nearly 60% - they have a migratory background. In other words, at least one parent does not have Belgian nationality or the person was born with another nationality. By group, people from the Maghreb region (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania) represent nearly 13% of the total number of unemployed people in Belgium. This is the largest category.

To this list are added job seekers with roots in Southern Europe, mainly in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, as well as the unemployed from neighboring countries. When all people with origins in another European Union Member State are grouped together, it represents about 20.4% of the total unemployed population. The remaining unemployed come from other regions outside the EU, particularly the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

The overrepresentation of people of foreign origin in unemployment statistics is growing in Belgium. It is one of the European countries with the worst results in terms of the employment rate of non-European migrants: more than half of the unemployed of non-European origin have been unemployed for more than a year. This situation is explained by several factors: the level of education of many migrants and their children remains below average. There are also sociocultural factors and the inactivity of non-European migrants.