According to newly released figures by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), "the number of Moroccans living legally in Spain, as of 1 January 2015, is estimated at 749,274 people."
A total of 194,762 Moroccans were affiliated to social security in Spain at the end of March 2015, according to the same source, representing just over 25% of Moroccans living in this country.
The report notes that despite a drop in 25,109 people (-3.2%) compared to January 2014, Moroccans are the largest foreign community outside the European Union (EU) legally settled in Spain.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Security, "Moroccans are always at the forefront of non-EU foreign workers affiliated to Social Security in Spain, followed by Chinese with 90,296 people, 69,466 Ecuadorians and Bolivians with 56,975 workers. "
Spain as at 1 January 2015 counts more than 46.6 million inhabitants, 4,718,864 foreigners. Thus, the foreign population living legally in Spain declined by 6.1% due to the economic crisis.