Morocco’s energy bill reached a record level of more than 153 billion dirhams in 2022, an increase of 102% mainly due to the rise in the price of petroleum products on the international market.
According to data from the Foreign Exchange Office, the recorded increase in the energy bill is mainly the result of a doubling of prices to 10,283 dirhams per ton, and an increase in the volume of 7.2%. The cost of energy has exacerbated Morocco’s trade deficit. For the past year, it amounted to about 311.6 billion dirhams, an annual increase of 56.5%, after imports reached 737.7 billion dirhams and exports amounted to 426, 1 billion dirhams.
Food imports cost Morocco 86.7 billion dirhams, an increase of 45%, driven by an increase in the quantities and prices of imported wheat of 25.8 billion dirhams, against 14.2 billion dirhams in 2021. Data from the Foreign Exchange Office indicate that exports from the most important sectors performed well, starting with sales of phosphate and its derivatives, which amounted to 115.4 billion dirhams, against 80.2 billion dirhams in 2021, thanks to the high price of fertilizers
It is internationally that the Office Chérifien des Phosphates has achieved the bulk of its performance in terms of the number of transactions and profits transferred to the State budget. The second most important export sector is the automobile, with sales of 111.2 billion dirhams, up 33% compared to 2021, or 27.6 billion dirhams in annual increase. Ditto for the agricultural sector and food industries, with exports of 81.2 billion dirhams, against 69.8 billion dirhams in 2021. This increase is mainly due to the good performance of food industry exports.
Exports from the textile and leather sector tickled 43.9 billion dirhams, up 20%. The aeronautical industry sector was not left out with 21.2 billion dirhams, a jump of about 34.4%. Community transfers During the past year, members of the Moroccan community residing abroad transferred 109.1 billion dirhams to their country of origin, thus contributing to increasing in the balance in hard currencies of the country, this figure representing one-third of the current balance.
This figure is the highest ever recorded, after 93.6 billion dirhams in 2021, and 64 and 68 billion dirhams respectively in 2018 and 2020. The tourism sector, despite the health crisis it has suffered, also remains credit support. The Kingdom earned hard currency by realizing revenue of around 91.2 billion dirhams, which represents an increase of 166.1%. This is evidence of a resumption of tourism in Morocco with the end of the procedures for restricting air travel around the world and the return of tourists to the Kingdom.
