Morocco’s trade deficit grows by 6.5% from January to November

The foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday that Morocco’s annual trade imbalance increased by 6.5% to 275 billion dirhams ($27.2 billion) in the first 11 months of this year.

According to the regulator’s monthly report, imports increased 5.7% to 689 billion dirhams from the previous year, surpassing exports by 5.2% to 413 billion dirhams.

Imports of wheat plummeted 8.7% to 16.3 billion dirhams, while imports of energy fell 5.9% to 104 billion dirhams.

Morocco’s top export sector, with 145 billion dirhams, up 6.7%, was the automotive sector, which includes factories for Stellantis and Renault.

The greatest phosphate reserves in the world are found in Morocco, which also reported a 9.1% increase in exports of the mineral and its derivatives, such as fertilizers, to 75.2 billion dirhams.

Moroccans’ overseas remittances, which are a major source of hard currency inflow, increased 2.8% to 108 billion dirhams, while tourism-related income increased 7.2% to 104 billion dirhams.

At 39.6 billion dirhams, foreign direct investments represented a 30% increase.