During the last 30 years, Morocco has boarded on a gradual but solid program on the sectors of human development and political liberalization. Since 1970 the gross national income per person increased from $550 to $2,730.

Furthermore since 2001, Morocco has made significant economic progress with the growth rates touching the 5 percent which is a progressive diversification of its economy.  This progress had as a result decrease in the overall poverty rate from 15.3 percent in 2000/01 to 9 percent in 2006/07.  

Additionally Morocco is committed to regional integration, mainly with Europe where it holds “Advanced Association Status” with the EU.

These features, together with a moderately good foundation of human and physical capital and its decisive geographic position on the Mediterranean, have positioned Morocco on a beneficial position in the international scene to achieve stronger growth and development and receive greater benefits from integration and globalization.

Despite this progress, Morocco still confronts difficult challenges, which include vulnerability to economy, insufficient social indicators relative to the country’s income level, high levels of unemployment and increasing pressure on lack of natural resources, especially water.

Moreover, although Morocco has performed a lot of reformations in the area of the private sector development, the speed of structural change of the economy remains slow.

Morocco, also, has followed a strategy of discerning market opening through bilateral agreements which have allowed it to grasp some of the opportunities offered by global markets. The problem is that its overall trade regime keeps a fundamental anti-export bias compounded by the fixed exchange regime.  To gather more benefits of globalization, Morocco needs maintain its efforts on reforming the trade regime and opening the domestically-focused services sectors to competition.

The Government has set a clear path for its development goals and has embarked on a wide-ranging economic and social reform program.  This program is planned to continue and improve the good performance in growth rates with concentrated efforts in strengthening governance, improving the business climate and ensuring greater prioritization and implementation of reform efforts.

Morocco Trade

Exports

$15.61 billion in 2009
Commodities: Clothing and textiles, electric components, inorganic chemicals, transistors, crude minerals, fertilizers (including phosphates), petroleum products, citrus fruits, vegetables, fish.
Partners: Spain - 19%, France - 17.4%, Brazil - 7%, US - 4.5%, Belgium - 4.4%, Italy - 4.2%

Imports

$31.83 billion in 2009
Commodities: Crude petroleum, textile fabric, telecommunications equipment, wheat, gas and electricity, transistors, plastics
Partners: France 16.2%, Spain 13.6%, Italy 6.5%, China 6.1%, Germany 5.7%, Saudi Arabia 5.4%, Moldova 5%