Morocco+Economics

Morocco's Economy
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**Overview:** Morocco faces the problems typical of developing countries - restraining government spending, reducing constraints on private activity and foreign trade, and achieving sustainable economic growth. Drought conditions depressed activity in the key agricultural sector, and contributed to an economic slowdown in 1999. Favorable rainfalls have led Morocco to predict a growth of 6% for 2000. Formidable long-term challenges include: servicing the external debt; preparing the economy for free trade with the EU; and improving education and attracting foreign investment to improve living standards and job prospects for Morocco's youthful population.The economy, however, remains overly dependent on the agriculture sector. Morocco's primary economic challenge is to accelerate growth in order to reduce high levels of unemployment. Information from [|Kids.Net.Au]

//GDP= Gross Domestic Product//

GDP composition and growth (2007) **GDP:** $72.76 billion US  **GDP (Purchasing Power Parity):** $127 billion US  **GDP per Capita (PPP):** $3,800 US <span class="style63" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">GDP Growth (in billions of US $). <span class="style63" style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Growth by main sectors in 2007 <span class="style63" style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">compared to 2006: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Agriculture: -21.2% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Manufacturing industry: + 4.5% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Tourism: + 5.8% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Financial services and insurances: +14.9% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Construction: + 9.8% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Telecommunications: + 10.7% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Hotels and restaurants: + 5.3% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Transportation: + 4.8% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Mining (Phosphate exports): +4.6% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Crude oil consumption: + 2.8% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Electricity consumption: + 7% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Unemployment rate: 9.7% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Inflation rate: 2% <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Foreign direct investment: 37.4 billions Dirham or more than 4 billion US dollars (+ 24.6% compared to 2006) Composition of GDP, by sector <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Industry <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__Tourism__: tourism is one of Morocco's most dynamic sectors of recent years, achieving consistent double digit growth since the goal of 10 million tourists by 2010 was set in 2001. Morocco's tourism sector is not only on track to achieve that goal, but to exceed it. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Leather goods and textiles__: Morocco's competitive edge in this sector is the extraordinary skill of its workforce. Moroccan leather is recognized to be among the best in the world and its prestigious textile heritage is centuries old. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Phosphate rock mining and processing__: Morocco has the world's largest known reserves of phosphates. A great portion of the phosphates are used to enrich fertilizer, but Morocco also exports crude phosphates. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Petrochemicals__: While Morocco is a net importer of crude petroleum, this hasn't prevented it from becoming a continental leader in petrochemicals. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Food processing__: Morocco's impressive agricultural sector is supported by a strong food processing industry, which exports Morocco's agricultural products, notably citrus, tomatoe, and sardine based products, around the world. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Electronics__: The electronics sector is quickly growing thanks to the free-trade agreement with the European Union as well as the industrial free zone in Tangiers. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Aeronautic__: A relatively young sector in the country, aeronautics is growing at a fast pace thanks to Morocco's close work with the European Union and its skilled workforce in the domain. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Automotive__: The automotive sector has been around for decades in Morocco but only recently has it truly begun to flourish thanks to the entry of new European car makers looking to outsource production to Morocco, mainly in Casablanca and Tangiers. <span class="style53" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> __Construction__: The real estate boom of the past two decades has made construction one of the country's most important sectors. Morocco is a net exporter of cement and other construction materials. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Imports and Exports (2007*) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Imports:** $22.15 billion f.o.b. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> **Main Products:** Material and industrial equipment, crude oil, gas and fuel, food products, textiles, grains, chemical products, artificial plastic materials, automobioles, iron and steel, electrical appliances, radio and TV receivers, paper and cardboard, coal, electronic parts <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> **Main partners:** France 17.5%, Spain 13.9%, Saudi Arabia 6.9%, China 6.9%, Italy 6.3%, Germany 6% (2006) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Exports:** $12.73 billion f.o.b. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> **Main Products:** Clothing, phosphate and phosphate-derived products, wire and electric cables, shellfish and molluscs, electronic components, citrus and early fruits and vegetables, metallic ores and metals, canned animal and vegetable products, shoes, sheet metal, lubricants, copper waste and fragments, textiles <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> **Main partners:** Spain 20.6%, France 20.5%, UK 4.8%, Italy 4.7%, India 4% (2006)

Information from [|Moroccan Embassy: Economy]