Morocco’s Trade Deficit Widens to 16.3 Billion Dirhams as Imports Outpace Exports

A 56.7% drop in imports of semi-finished products and raw materials, of iron or non-alloy steel wires, bars and profiles was noted; but on the other hand, a 3.2% increase, reaching a rate of 25.3% for the supply of capital goods.

The surprise would come from the automotive sector, with a stagnation of shipments, according to the newspaper l’Économiste. "The share of wiring in these exports stands at 42.3% at the end of January, up 0.9 points compared to the same period last year. Automotive construction is at 40.8%, down 5.1 points from the previous year".

While noting that the 1.2% increase is due to the increase in exports of agriculture and agri-food (+2%), textiles and leather (+3.6%), aeronautics (+2.7%) and the pharmaceutical industry (+35.6%), it is also noted that sales of phosphates and derivatives (-10.7%), the mining extraction sector (-43.3%) and electronics (-4.3%) were the sectors most decimated by the trade deficit. The same goes for foreign direct investment, which fell by 32.2%.