The Paradox of Numbers: Morocco’s Largest Community in Spain, Yet Last in Graduate Rankings

According to the annual census by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) as of January 1, 2025, the country is home to 1,165,955 residents born in Morocco. They form the largest foreign group, far surpassing natives of Colombia and Venezuela. While a historic wave of arrivals was recorded during the 2001-2010 decade, this migration dynamic remains strong with more than 250,000 new Moroccan settlements registered in 2023 and 2024 alone.

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However, it is on the academic front that the contrast is most striking. The survey reveals that only 9.3% of residents born in Morocco hold a higher education diploma, placing them last among the main nationalities present on Iberian soil. By comparison, the average stands at 28% for all foreigners. The Moroccan community is thus far outpaced by natives of Venezuela, France, or Argentina, who all display graduate rates exceeding 44%.

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This educational gap is all the more significant given that 42.7% of Spain’s overall population aged 25 to 64 now holds such university credentials. This fracture is part of a rapidly evolving socio-economic landscape, marked by a general rise in employment in 2024. In early 2026, as the 10 million mark for foreign-born residents was just crossed, authorities launched a vast regularization program aimed at granting work permits to half a million undocumented migrants.