Energy and sulfur accounted for almost half of the increase in Morocco’s goods imports through August, as a sharply higher fuel bill and a near-tripling of sulfur purchases pushed the trade deficit to MAD 282.6 billion, its highest end-August level in five years.
Morocco imported MAD 84.3 billion more goods than during the same eight months of 2025. Of that increase, MAD 23.7 billion came from energy and lubricants and another MAD 17.85 billion from sulfur alone, meaning the two accounted for about 49% of the additional import bill.
The energy bill rose 32.6% to MAD 96.4 billion, driven largely by diesel and fuel oil, which increased 44.9% to MAD 50.7 billion. Petroleum oils and lubricants rose 55.4% to MAD 12.2 billion, while petrol imports increased 39.5% to MAD 5.9 billion.
Sulfur produced an even sharper increase. Imports of crude and unrefined sulfur reached MAD 27.2 billion, up from MAD 9.4 billion a year earlier. Sulfur is a major input in Morocco’s phosphate fertilizer industry, making the rise particularly notable as phosphate and derivative exports moved in the opposite direction.
Phosphate exports fell 6% to MAD 61.1 billion through August, with fertilizer exports down 7.4% and raw phosphate exports down 23.2%. Phosphoric acid exports rose 11.2%.
Overall imports increased 15.8% to MAD 617.5 billion, while exports rose only 8.7% to MAD 334.9 billion. That widened the goods trade deficit by MAD 57.3 billion from a year earlier and pushed the import coverage ratio down to 54.2%, from 57.7%.
Automotive exports remained Morocco’s largest export category at MAD 116.1 billion, up 14.5%, while aerospace exports increased 21.5% and agriculture and food exports rose 8.3%.
The trade gap has widened steadily through 2026, rising from MAD 127 billion at the end of April to MAD 198.4 billion in June and MAD 244.7 billion in July before reaching MAD 282.6 billion in August.
Tourism receipts, remittances and foreign investment helped offset some of that pressure, but the broader goods-and-services deficit still widened 41.1% to MAD 133.5 billion.
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