They represent the largest non-European immigrant population in Belgium and are widely referred to as Belgo-Marocains in French and Belgische Marokkanen in Dutch.

The first such agreement was made with Italy in 1946 but the arrangement collapsed after large-scale loss of life among Italian workers in the Marcinelle mining disaster in 1956.

Belgium also began to look to recruiting migrant workers from North Africa from 1957 but the process was complicated by the ongoing Algerian War.

However, the spread of family reunification and high birth rates led to the rapid expansion of the community after the scheme's abolition.

A large majority of Moroccans in Belgium originate from northern Morocco (Al Hoceima, Nador, Tangier, Tetouan and Oujda).

In the 2012–2016 timespan, of the approximately 500 individuals who left the country to fight in the civil war in Syria, the great majority were of Moroccan descent according to U.S. and Belgian authorities.