Trade with Morocco Europe, the largest and unbeatable partner

Despite a global context characterized by growing geopolitical tensions and difficulties in supply chains, Morocco’s trade transactions with the rest of the world keep on following an upward trend. In 2022, they rose by 35.9% to reach a value of 1,166 billion dirhams (USD 116 billion), compared with 858 billion dirhams (USD 85 billion) in 2021, notes the Moroccan Foreign Exchange Office in its annual report on Morocco’s foreign trade.
Europe maintains its position as the Kingdom’s leading trading partner. Trade with the Old Continent accounted for 58.8% of total merchandise-related transactions. They amounted to 685.8 billion Dirhams (USD 68 billion) last year. However, the weight of this trade in Morocco’s total transactions is declining, from 63.4% in 2021 to 58.8% in 2022. 
Trade flows with this continent reveal a momentum that affects imports more than exports..

Spain, at the top of the podium
Unsurprisingly, trade is mainly carried out with Spain. The Iberian country consolidated its number-one ranking with a 27.4% share (188.1 billion dirhams), ahead of France (23.1%) and Italy, followed by Turkey and Germany.
The upward trend is also confirmed in the trading of goods with Asia. An increase of 59% was recorded in 2022, reaching 257.82 billion dirhams. China remains Morocco’s leading Asian partner, with a 30% share last year. With a value of 77.4 billion dirhams, Morocco’s Asian trade partners show an increase of 18.7% compared with 2021. Similarly, transactions with the other main Asian partners (Saudi Arabia, India, and the United Arab Emirates) posted significant increases.
At the same time, transactions with America rose by 51.2% last year, driven mainly by growth in trade with the USA, Argentina, and Trinidad and Tobago.

South Africa is gaining ground
As far as trade with Africa is concerned, Meanwhile, trade with Africa continues the upward trend begun in 2021 (+39.9%). Morocco’s trade balance with this continent consolidates a good performance, with the trade surplus doubling. It rose to 13.3 billion dirhams versus 6.2 billion dirhams in 2021. This is mainly due to the increase in trade with Djibouti, Mauritania, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. It should be noted that Morocco has a trade deficit with Europe, Asia, and America (the increase in imports exceeds that of exports).  Egypt remains Morocco’s main African partner for the fourth year in a row. It is followed in 2022 by South Africa, which ranked eighth among the Kingdom’s partner countries a year earlier. Next come Djibouti, Tunisia, and Côte d’Ivoire. These five countries account for almost half of trade with Africa (48.1%).
Trade with Oceania remains limited, accounting for 0.3% of transactions. In fact, trade with Australia fell by MAD 464 million, to MAD 804 million, offset by an increase of MAD 319.1 million in trade with New Zealand. 

Khadija skalli