xpatriate remittances to Morocco increased again in the first six months of this year, bolstering incomes in the kingdom and bringing welcome direct investment to a range of sectors. Remittances to the kingdom from Moroccans resident abroad (MREs, in the French acronym) totalled $3.5bn in the first half of 2008, up 5% on the same period last year, according to the Office des Changes (SADOC), Morocco's exchange rate monitoring body.
Morocco receives more remittances than any other country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region after Egypt. According to the World Bank, last year the country drew in $5.7bn in remittances, which have averaged $2.6bn annually since 2003. Some 3.3m Moroccans live abroad, nearly three times as many as 15 years ago. While recent years have seen a geographical broadening of the Moroccan diaspora, 80% live in the EU, with an estimated 1.6m Moroccans in France and 700,000 in Spain, the two biggest sources of remittances. Around half of the emigrants are female, reflecting the fact that increasing numbers of single women emigrate. [Read more]
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