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Rabat – Morocco’s trade deficit continues to climb to new heights amid the ongoing energy and grain price crisis. At the end of September 2022, the country’s trade deficit rose to MAD 81.5 billion ($7.4 billion), increasing the annual rate by 53%, according to official data.
Trade deficit or trade balance tracks the difference between the monetary value of imports and exports. While countries strive to maintain the value of imports of exports, few manage to achieve it. To cover the imbalance between imports and exports, countries resort to their foreign currency reserves, which negatively affect much-needed state reserves.
Over the first nine months of 2022, the value of Morocco’s imports reached around MAD 552.3 Billion ($50.5 billion), up 44% from last year’s MAD 384.2 billion ($35.1 billion). In the same period, the value of exports increased by 37%, going from MAD 231 billion ($21.1 billion) in September 2021 to MAD 318 billion ($29.1 billion).
The rising trade deficit is largely triggered by the rising cost of Morocco’s energy and grain imports, as the country currently imports almost 90% of its energy needs. The country’s energy bill doubled over the past year, rising by a staggering MAD 62.8 billion ($5.7 billion). At the end of September, the country’s energy imports reached MAD 114.7 billion ($10.4 billion), up from MAD 52 billion ($4.7 billion).
The cost of Morocco’s wheat imports also skyrocketed at the end of September, going from MAD 44 billion ($4 billion) last year to MAD 67 billion ($6 billion), according to data from Morocco’s foreign trade watchdog.
In addition to energy and food imports, the value of imported raw materials equally spiked at the end of September 2022, rising at an annual rate of 63%.
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