Moroccan Belgians: From Foreigners to Citizens

In Belgium, Morocco holds a special place in population statistics. The country ranks first among foreign origins when using the criterion of "first registered nationality," meaning the nationality recorded when a person first registers with the Belgian National Register.

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As of January 1, 2025, 2,952,551 residents in Belgium had a first foreign nationality. Within this group, people whose first registered nationality is Moroccan are the most numerous: 359,491, representing 12% of the total, according to the "Population and Movements" section of Myria’s 2026 annual report.

Morocco thus clearly surpasses Italy, which has 275,579 people, France with 231,450, the Netherlands with 203,863, and Turkey with 171,322. This hierarchy confirms the long-standing weight of Moroccan immigration in Belgium, but it must be read with precision: it is not solely about Moroccan nationals still living with foreign nationality.

Moroccan origin largely became Belgian

The figure of 359,491 people refers to administrative origin, not necessarily current nationality. A large portion of this population has acquired Belgian nationality. For people whose first registered nationality is Moroccan, the share that became Belgian reaches 75%, the same level as for people of Turkish origin.

Moroccan presence also appears in regional data. Among people who became Belgian, Morocco ranks first in Flanders, with 109,153 people, and in Brussels-Capital, with 108,879 people. In Wallonia, people of Moroccan origin who became Belgian number 50,489, behind Italians but ahead of French.

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This data thus confirms a reality often poorly summarized: Moroccans remain the first registered foreign origin in Belgium, but a majority of them are now Belgian. This explains the gap between figures for origin, current nationality, and recent immigration.