Rabat – Morocco’s inflation rose by an annual rate of 5% at the end of August 2023, a report from the Higher Commission of Planning (HCP) indicates.
The uptick in inflation is mainly due to a sweeping 10% rise in food prices, and a 1.3% rise in non-food items, the HCP report shows.
Meanwhile, the core inflation index, which excludes volatile price products and public tariff products, rose by an annual rate of 4.9% in the first eight months of 2023.
Compared to the previous month, inflation rose by 0.3% in August, underpinned by a 0.2% rise in the food product index and a 0.4% increase in the non-food products index.
The HCP report details that the month-on-month spike in food products covers fruits at 2.8%, vegetables, at 2.7%, milk, cheese, and eggs, as well as coffee, tea, and cocoa by 0.2%, while the price of bread and cereals rise by 0.1%.
In contrast, meat prices fell by 2.0% month-on-month, fish and seafood products dropped by 0.8, and “oils and fats” dropped by 0.7%.
For non-food products, the increase primarily extended to fuel prices, which rose by 6.7% month-on-month.
While inflation is showing signs of easing in 2023, it remains below the recommended 2%.
An earlier report from HCP forecasts that after almost three years of breaking records, inflation in Morocco is set to drop to 1.8% in 2024, down from 2.8% in 2023.
Despite the optimistic outlook from the HCP, adverse weather conditions and their effect on agriculture yield may cause inflation to persist triggered by the persisting rise in food products.
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