Brexit boosts exports

Since the Association Agreement entered into force in January 2021, trade between Morocco and the United Kingdom has increased significantly. In two years, the growth rate is estimated to be nearly 50%. The total rose from 15.3 billion dirhams in 2019 to 22.9 billion dirhams in 2022. Moroccan exports nearly tripled during the same period.

According to figures from the Foreign Exchange Office, the trade balance has recovered since 2020. In the first half of last year, the trade balance was 4 billion dirhams in favor of Morocco. This is the first time in the history of trade between the two countries.

Today, the United Kingdom is Morocco’s 5th customer, up 2 ranks compared to 2021, and positioned as the 18th supplier. In 2019, the United Kingdom was Morocco’s 9th largest customer and 13th largest supplier.

Statistics also show that the agri-food sector takes the lion’s share of Moroccan exports. Thus, exports of vegetables and fruits exploded from 92 MDH in 2019 to almost one billion dirhams in the first half of 2022.

Both countries now intend to take advantage of this situation to strengthen bilateral cooperation and expand it to other areas, both in terms of trade and investment. Several promising sectors have been identified, particularly finance, healthcare, renewable energies, education, infrastructure, tourism, etc.