JEDDAH: Morocco’s consumer price index fell 0.6 percent year on year in July, as a decline in food prices more than offset higher non-food costs, official data showed.
According to Morocco’s High Commission for Planning, food prices fell 3.7 percent from a year earlier in July, while non-food prices increased 1.9 percent. Within the non-food category, price changes ranged from a 0.2 percent decline in communications costs to a 4.1 percent increase in transport prices.
Morocco’s annual consumer price decline contrasted with inflation elsewhere across the Middle East and North Africa. Tunisia’s inflation rate stood at 5.1 percent in July, while Egypt’s annual urban headline inflation reached 14.9 percent.
Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index rose 1.8 percent year on year during the month.
Inflation remains subdued amid economic growth
The latest inflation data come as Morocco’s economy is expected to maintain relatively strong growth in 2026. The World Bank forecasts real gross domestic product growth of 4.2 percent this year, following an estimated 4.9 percent expansion in 2025.
The low inflation environment also gives Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, room to maintain an accommodative monetary stance. The central bank expects inflation to average 1.5 percent in 2026 and 2.1 percent in 2027, while its benchmark interest rate currently stands at 2.25 percent.
Food prices drive annual decline
On a monthly basis, Morocco’s CPI fell 1 percent in July compared with June, driven by a 1.9 percent decline in food prices and a 0.3 percent decrease in non-food prices.
“In contrast, prices increased by 0.3 percent for mineral water, soft drinks, and fruit and vegetable juices, and by 0.2 percent for coffee, tea, and cocoa,” HCP reported.
The monthly decline in food prices was led by vegetables, which fell 7.6 percent, followed by fish and seafood, down 3.9 percent and fruit, down 3.7 percent, as well as meat, which was down 1.2 percent; and milk, cheese, and eggs, down 0.3 percent.
Among non-food products, the commission added, fuel prices recorded the largest decline, falling 4.9 percent from the previous month.
Morocco’s underlying inflation indicator, which excludes products with volatile prices and those subject to regulated public tariffs, fell 0.1 percent month on month in July and was also down 0.1 percent year on year.
The largest monthly declines in the CPI were recorded in Marrakech, at 1.7 percent, followed by Safi at 1.4 percent, and Guelmim at 1.3 percent, as well as Tangier at 1.1 percent. Casablanca, Rabat, and Meknes each recorded a 1 percent decline, while Agadir, Settat, and Beni-Mellal fell 0.9 percent.
Fez and Oujda recorded declines of 0.8 percent, followed by Tetouan at 0.7 percent, Al Hoceima at 0.6 percent, Dakhla at 0.5 percent, and Errachidia at 0.3 percent.
