Record $11.5 Billion in Remittances Boost Morocco’s Economy as Diaspora Contributions Surge

Through the remittances they make to Morocco, MREs contribute to the economic development of Morocco. According to the updated data from the Office des Changes, remittances from MREs reached a record level in 2023, standing at 115.3 billion dirhams against 110.8 billion dirhams in 2022, an increase of 4.1%, with an average annual growth rate of these remittances of 19.2% between 2020 and 2023.

The same source indicates that MREs from France remain at the top of remittances to Morocco with 30.8% of the total, followed by Moroccans residing in Spain (12.6%), Saudi Arabia (10.7%), Italy (9.2%), the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. These funds sent by MREs to Morocco are generally intended for families, thus contributing to strengthening the purchasing power of Moroccans, or for trade and investment, creating jobs and stimulating economic growth.

"The boom in remittances from abroad to Morocco is linked to a set of explanatory factors, in particular the increase in the number of Moroccans residing and working in several foreign countries, as well as the fact that a significant proportion of them have not yet returned to the Kingdom since the Covid-19 pandemic, which pushes them to increase their transfers to the Kingdom," explains economist Khaled Homs to Hespress.

And to continue: "A significant proportion of these transfers are intended for investment, in parallel with the development projects undertaken by Morocco, reinforced by the expected hosting by the Kingdom of the 2030 World Cup matches, pending a natural increase in these specific transfers to investment in the coming years".

El Mahdi Fakir, an economic analyst, considers the continuous increase in remittances from MREs as "a safety valve for the Moroccan economy and an important contributor to securing the country’s needs and foreign exchange reserves, assimilating them to oxygen intakes for the Moroccan economic and social environment". He argues that these remittances from MREs are "a factor of social support and stimulation of the national economy".