Textile industry at a strategic crossroads
The Moroccan textile sector continues to make headlines, and the figures recently released by the Moroccan Association of Textile and Clothing Industries (AMITH) for July 2025 speak volumes about this momentum.
At the end of April and May 2025, exports to the European Union (EU) and beyond showed remarkable resilience, despite a few clouds on the horizon. Based on Eurostat data and refined by AMITH, these statistics highlight a well-established strategy, driven by trade missions to Warsaw, New York, and Düsseldorf. Between geographical advantages and challenges to be overcome, Morocco is charting its course in a constantly evolving textile industry.
The old continent remains the beating heart of Moroccan exports, and the figures prove it unequivocally. At the end of May 2025, France imported 839 million Moroccan Dirhams (79.77 million Euros) worth of Moroccan clothing, down slightly by 6% from 893 million Moroccan Dirhams (84.91 million Euros) in 2024. Spain, meanwhile, held steady with 853 million Moroccan Dirhams (81.10 million euros) (-1%), while Germany is slowly climbing to 628 million Moroccan Dirhams (59.71 million euros) (+1%). and Italy is falling to 432 million Moroccan Dirhams (41.07 million euros) (-10%).
Faced with rivals such as Turkey and Tunisia, Morocco is playing the proximity card, a major advantage given the delivery times of Asian giants. Morocco’s total exports, which reached €8.829 billion at the end of April 2025 (+11% on 2024), demonstrate resilience in the face of fierce competition, dominated by China with €1.151 billion in EU imports (+60%). While Morocco cannot compete with these volumes, its expertise is appealing, due to the quality of its products. However, declines in certain segments are a call for innovation, especially when Italy and Spain are stagnating or declining. Despite these glimmers of hope, data points to weaknesses. The fall in exports to Italy (-10%) and stagnation in Spain (-1%) suggest that competitors who are more agile on prices are gaining ground. And then there is the energy issue: bills are rising, a burden that the PEEM program aims to alleviate by reducing the consumption of textile companies by 10%. This is a major challenge when compared to countries such as Germany, which are already champions of efficiency.
Innovation could well be the key to salvation. The rise in T-shirts and shirts shows a keen awareness of trends, and ESITH (Higher School of Textile and Clothing Industries), with its 43 patents, is paving the way for technical textiles. Amith’s new roadmap, which places the emphasis on the development of Industry 4.0 and the reconquest of the local market, opens up new prospects. Diversifying markets—towards the US or Poland, for example—and reviving sluggish segments (sweaters, blouses) with new ideas is becoming imperative.
Radia LAHLOU
