Morocco to Raise School Textbook Prices by 25% Amid Rising Production Costs

This increase in textbook prices could be around 25%, according to Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, citing an official from the Moroccan Publishers Association. A decision, he specified, has already been made by the government in this direction and will be announced very soon.

He pointed out that the AME had presented the Ministry of Education with a request for a 100% increase in book prices, but the government has limited this increase to 25%.

More specifically, the increase in textbooks will concern "those used in middle and high school, particularly books whose prices range from 7.20 to 23 dirhams. It should also be noted that these rates have remained frozen for 20 years, thus forcing publishers and booksellers to sell them at a loss," explained the official.

To justify this prospective increase, the official cited the effects of the health crisis, leading to the closure of many factories and production units and the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"Whether it’s plates, ink or paper, the price of which has increased by 120%, knowing that it represents 90% of the materials used in the manufacture of school textbooks," all inputs are affected by the repercussions of the global economic situation, he justified.