• Morocco food imports rose 3.3% to 94.6 billion dirhams in 2025
• Live animal imports surged 25% after duty, VAT suspensions
• Food trade deficit hit 7.78 billion dirhams as exports dipped

Morocco’s spending on food imports rose to 94.6 billion dirhams ($10.3 billion) in 2025, according to the Exchange Office’s December foreign trade report.

The figure marked a 3.3% increase from a year earlier. Wheat, sugar, corn and live animals were among the main import items. Together, these four categories accounted for nearly 42% of the food import bill in 2025, totalling 39.7 billion dirhams ($4.34 billion).

Live animal imports drive growth

Exchange Office data show that imports of live animals climbed 25% year-on-year to 6.97 billion dirhams ($762.7 million), the strongest increase among the top four food import categories.

Policy measures in Morocco helped boost livestock imports. Under the 2025 Finance Act, the government suspended import duties and VAT on cattle, sheep, goats and camelids from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

Local media reported that the quota for cattle imports was doubled to 300,000 head last August. The aim was to ensure adequate domestic supply of livestock and fresh meat and to support efforts to rebuild the national herd. The herd has been severely reduced by a drought spell that has lasted for the past seven years.

The latest surveys conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2025 showed that Morocco has already lost 38% of its cattle and sheep population since 2016.

Aside from live animals, spending on corn imports rose 18.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the value of sugar and wheat imports fell by 18% and 5.8%, respectively, over the same period.

Overall, food imports accounted for 11.5% of Morocco’s total import bill, which stood at 822.2 billion dirhams ($89.9 billion) in 2025.

Morocco imported more food products than it exported in 2025. Exchange Office data show that food export revenues totalled 86.8 billion dirhams ($9.4 billion), down 0.1% from a year earlier. As a result, the country posted a trade deficit of 7.78 billion dirhams ($850 million) in food products. Exports in this category represented nearly 19% of Morocco’s total export revenues, which reached 469 billion dirhams ($51.2 billion) in 2025.

Stéphanas Assocle