Morocco’s trade deficits hikes to MAD 181 billion ($19.6 billion) at the end of November 2021, marking a year-to-year increase of MAD 37.9 billion ($4.1 billion), according to a recent report by Bank Al-Maghreb (BAM), the Moroccan central bank. The rise in the trade deficit was offset by the 24% hike in imports dwarfing the 22.5% in exports, the report explained. While imports increased by MAD 91.6 billion ($9.9 billion), exports rose by MAD 53.8 billion ($ 5.8 billion) from the same period in 2020. Consumer products imports increased by 30.8%, reaching MAD 111.8 billion ($ 12.1 billion) over the same period. According to BAM’s report, underpinning the hike in consumer products imports were the rise in demand for passenger vehicles (+48.3%) and their parts (+24.1%) and the COVID-triggered rise in demand for medicines and pharmaceutical products (+75.1%). Skyrocketing energy prices worldwide negatively impacted Morocco’s trade balance, the report established. The import volume of “diesel and fuel oil” increased by 51.8% year-to-year, while “gas, petroleum, and other hydrocarbons” rose by 46.7%. The rise in energy prices also extended to coal as it recorded a 36.5% year-to-year increase.
However, exports continue on an upward trajectory, boasting a strong recovery. The volume of Morocco’s phosphate exports progressed at a year-over-year increase of 51.9%, amounting to MAD 69.2 billion ($7.5 billion), with fertilizers imports recording a 51.1% rise over the same period. Morocco’s robust automotive industry contributed by 12.8% to the volume of exports at the end of November, with a MAD 75.1 billion ($8.1 billion) increase in 75.1 billion in sales volume. Regarding Morocco’s agriculture exports, volume sales rose by MAD 62.9 billion (+10.2%), the country’s textile industry recorded a total increase in exports volume set at MAD 33.5 billion ($3.6 billion) -- the equivalent of a 20.7% increase. For its part, Morocco’s aeronautical sector reached a total of MAD 13.9 billion ($1.5 billion) at the end of November, up by 19.8% from 2020.