Rabat – Over 60% of Moroccan consumers in one survey said that they have cut down on buying groceries to adapt to the dramatic rise in consumer goods prices.
Conducted by market research firm Sunergia, the survey shows that the trend is especially affecting Moroccan aged 25-34-year-olds and 35-44-year-olds as 68% and 71% of said age groups have reported not only scaling back on purchasing food, but are also taking extra measures to ration groceries.
Food inflation in Morocco reached historic levels in 2023, hitting 18.4% in February. The trend is mainly caused by last year’s suboptimal agriculture campaign.
When asked about the effect inflation had on their overall budget, 57% of Moroccans said they had reduced their food spending as a result of higher prices, 10% had increased it and 30% had managed to maintain the same budget.
Consumers in Morocco’s southern regions were more likely to say they are spending less on food (64%).
At the end of May 2023, food inflation in Morocco started showing signs of recovery, rising by a moderate 3.2% compared to the previous month.
Food inflation, however, remained elevated compared to one year earlier, as the annual food inflation rate rose to 17.2% at the end of the first four months of 2023, according to data from Morocco’s Higher Commission for Planning.
Food prices took an upward trajectory in 2022 on the backdrop of the worst drought to hit the country in over three decades. The drought affected market supply, causing prices to rise to dramatic levels. The effect of last year’s drought was especially hard-felt in the first months of 2023.
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