Morocco's trade deficit stood at MAD 199.74 billion ($21.30 billion) at the end of December 2021, up 25% compared to the year 2020, according to the Office Foreign Exchanges. Imports to Morocco climbed by 24.5% in 2021 compared to the end of 2020 and 7.3% in 2019, reported the Office of Foreign Exchange's monthly bulletin of foreign trade indicators, adding that the coverage rate has stabilized at 62.1%. Reasons behind the increase in imports of consumer goods included the rise in imports of finished consumer products (+29.7%), energy products (+25.76), half-products (+22.10) and capital goods (+13.75), according to the bulletin. The increase in imports of finished consumer products of MAD 28.19 billion ($3.01 billion) was mainly due to the increase in purchases of foreign-produced passenger vehicles (+46.5%) and the rise in demand for medicines and pharmaceutical products (+68.4%) amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The bulletin also mentions that at the end of December 2021, exports of goods totaled MAD 326.90 billion ($34.97 billion), up from MAD 263.08 billion ($28.15 billion) the previous year, a rise of 24.3%. Meanwhile, the North African country’s exports witnessed an increase. The volume of Morocco’s phosphate exports progressed at a year-over-year increase of 57.1%, amounting to MAD 29.02 billion ($7.5 billion). For its part, imports of energy products increased by 51.6% recording a MAD 25.76 billion increase. This increase is founded on a hike in supplies of gas oils and fuel oils of MAD 12.65 billion, noted the office. Morocco’s robust automotive industry contributed 15.9% of the total volume of exports at the end of November, with a MAD 11.5 billion ($1.23 billion) increase in MAD 83.78 billion ($8.96 billion) in sales volume. Morocco’s sales of textiles and leather increased by 21.6% in 2021, while the agriculture and agribusiness sector grew by 9.2%.