Morocco’s trade deficit increased by 2.6 percent year-on-year to 91.32 billion dirhams (8.99 billion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of 2023, according to a data released by the Moroccan foreign exchange regulator on Thursday.
Morocco’s exports increased by 3.6 percent year-on-year to 145.72 billion dirhams, while imports increased by 3.2 percent to 237.04 billion dirhams, the regulator said in a report.
Imports of food increased by 7.3 percent, and consumer goods jumped by 10.7 percent, while energy costs dropped by 1.7 percent, it said.
Exports increased as a result of the automotive industry’s 40.4 percent growth to 45 billion dirhams, the electronic and electrical products industry’s 34 percent growth, and the textiles and leather industry’s 11.6 percent growth, it noted.
Meanwhile, the revenue of tourism hit 3.22 billion U.S. dollars, up 71 percent compared with the level of January-April, 2019.
The foreign direct investments in Morocco decreased by 13.1 percent to 631 million dollars during the same period, while remittances from the Moroccan communities abroad rose by 12.8 percent to reach 3.5 billion dollars, the report said.
 in the first four months of 2023, according to a data released by the Moroccan foreign exchange regulator on Thursday.){kind=link}