EBRD expects Morocco’s growth to reach 3.1 % in 2023

The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development expects Morocco’s economic growth to reach 3.1 % up from the 1.3 % recorded in 2022 when a drought compounded the adverse impact of tighter global financing conditions.
According to the Bank’s Regional Economic Prospects report released Wednesday, the forecast does not incorporate the effects of the powerful earthquake that hit in the High Atlas Mountains near Marrakech.

The European bank says the quake’s impact on the country’s overall economic activity remains difficult to judge at this stage; while reconstruction expenditure might provide a boost to medium-term growth, it might also increase the need for financing.

In 2023, Morocco’s growth has been supported by an improved harvest and a boom in tourism, as well as slower inflation and recovering domestic demand. As a result, unemployment fell slightly to 12.4 % in the second quarter of 2023, with higher rates among women (17 %), youth (33.6 %) and in urban areas (16.3%).

In 2024, EBRD projects Morocco’s growth to reach 3%, reverting to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term, with accelerated momentum on reforms potentially improving the outlook further.

The Bank is forecasting a modest economic growth in 2023 for the whole the southern & eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the SEMED region is expected to grow by 3.7 % in 2023 and 3.9 % in 2024.

However, the region’s economies have weathered the challenging global environment relatively well, although high inflation and tighter financing conditions have increased sovereign stress, underlines the EBRD report.