Inflation in Morocco rises sharply in third quarter of 2022, HCP

Morocco’s inflation rate rose sharply by +6.6% in the third quarter of 2022, said the High Commission for Planning (HCP) in its October note.

The inflation is driven by a rise in food and manufacturing prices, in the wake of the rise in production costs, added HCP.

Over the year 2022 as a whole, consumer prices are expected to increase by 6.4% in annual variation, 5% points more than in 2021, on the basis of external pressures linked to higher global prices, further stated the same source.

The external pressures are also linked to the rise in international energy commodity prices and the appreciation of the US dollar, added HCP.

HCP also mentioned national factors such as rising temperatures combined with water scarcity, which are expected to continue to affect agricultural product supply and keep pressure on prices.

Consumer prices on the rise

In the third quarter of 2022, consumer prices continued to rise at a historically high rate, +7.8% in annual variation, after +6.3% in the previous quarter and +1.4% in the same period of 2021, said HCP.

The increase resulted from a 13% rebound in food prices (their highest level in forty years), and a 4.5% increase in non-food prices, explained the same source.

The rise in food prices was mainly noticed in non-fresh products, which rose by 13.3% in the third quarter of 2022, compared with +2.9% a year earlier, added the same source.

Those products have been carried primarily by the persistence of high global food raw material prices, despite a slight decrease since July, further stated the same source.

Additionally, the contribution to the increase in prices reached 1.2 points for oils, followed by cereal-based products (+0.9 points), meats (+0.7 points) and milk, cheese and dairy products, and eggs (+0.3 points).

These rises have been bolstered by the acceleration of the prices of fresh foods, which contributed +1,1 point to the price increase, particularly for fresh vegetables and fruits (+1,6 and +0,3 points, respectively) and fresh fish (+0,2 point), according to the same source.

For non-food products, the pressure on their prices mainly concerned fuel prices (+1.4 points) and manufactured goods (+0.7 points), according to the same source.

The global price increase coincides with the international context linked to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in late February and is still ongoing.

Following the imposition of sanctions on Russia in support of Ukraine, the international crisis caused trade disruptions and spike in most prices.