Morocco’s Post-Ramadan Alcohol Price Surge Impacts Consumers and Businesses

In the cities of Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech, alcohol prices have seen an almost general increase just after Ramadan. This is the finding made by the operators of drinking establishments. Among the alcohols severely affected by the price hike are beers (40 cents) and other beverages (10%, 10 dirhams per bottle).

This price increase somewhat embarrasses the merchants. "I found a lot of embarrassment in passing on this increase in the current crisis situation, but I really don’t have a choice," affirms a professional in the sector to Maghreb Intelligence.

In Morocco, taxes imposed on the consumption of alcohol and beer bring in a lot of money to the state accounts. According to data from the General Treasury of the Kingdom (TGR), around 619 million dirhams were recorded in the first half of 2021. As for taxes on tobacco and alcoholic beverages, the overall annual amount is around 20 billion dirhams. The contribution of these taxes to the state budget is therefore enormous.