Moroccan Consumer Confidence Hits 15-Year Low as Living Standards Plummet

Only 10.9% of households think that their standard of living has remained stable over the past year, while 85.3% say their standard of living has plummeted and 3.8% consider it has improved. Half of the households surveyed expect their standard of living to deteriorate further in 2024 and 85.8% think unemployment will increase in the kingdom during this period, according to this HCP survey conducted in the first quarter of 2023.

For 79%, the time is not right to make durable goods purchases and 45.4% say they are emptying their savings and being forced to take out loans. The household confidence index, for its part, shows a worrying downward trend. The culprit is the surge in prices in the kingdom, leading to an inflation of 8.2% and 16.5% for food products.

The delegate minister in charge of relations with parliament, government spokesman, Mustapha Baitas, indicated on Thursday in Rabat that the state has disbursed 130.59 million dirhams to assist nearly 75,868 widows and 125,989 orphans under the direct aid program in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 74,851 widows and 121,350 orphans for a total amount of 127.417 million dirhams for the same period of 2022.