Survey: Nearly 1 in 4 Moroccans Consider Emigrating for Economic Opportunities

The majority of men, aged between 15 and 29, generally single or separated, intend to emigrate. Several reasons motivate their choice: economic reasons with a rate of 73.5% followed by social reasons, 21.8%. According to the HCP, the economic reasons concern "the search for better socio-economic prospects such as employment opportunities, the search for better income, a better standard of living or other reasons related to the nature or working conditions or the desire to invest".

As for the social reasons, they relate to family reunification, marriage, divorce or separation. "Others relate to the search for better social and health services, the search for a better education system for children or for the pursuit of studies and training," it is specified.

Half of the unemployed (50.9%) intend to emigrate. Among them, 60.4% are men and 40.7% are women. Economic reasons are stronger among men than among women (81.8% vs. 58.7%) while social and human reasons are higher among the latter, the report indicates. However, family reasons (which are part of the social reasons, family reunification, marriages and divorces or separations) represent only 1.8%; they are almost exclusively feminine. According to the place of residence, economic reasons are more mentioned by potential rural migrants with 79.7% against 69.8% for city dwellers.

According to the regional distribution of the intention to emigrate, some regions are above the national average (23.3%) while others are below. The Oriental region is at the top with 41.1% followed by Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima (30.8%), Drâa-Tafilalet (26%) and Marrakech-Safi (27%). Conversely, the regions of Fez-Meknès, Casablanca-Settat and Béni Mellal-Khénifra and the region of Souss-Massa are below the national average with respective rates of 21.5%, 18% and 10.5%. As for the Rabat region, it is at the level of the national average with 23.8%.

The intention to emigrate is very high for single, unmarried (40.4%), divorced (34.7%) and separated (75.7%) people, while it is only 12.7% for married people.