Like many other countries, Morocco’s economy suffered a significant setback in 2020. A crippling drought, combined with the impact of Covid-19, brought about the country’s worst recession on record. Yet Morocco’s fortunes have already seen an improvement in 2021, even as key sectors such as tourism remain hard pressed.
The economy had been under pressure even before the pandemic, with real gross domestic product (GDP) falling from 4.2% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019. Morocco’s High Commission for Planning reported a GDP contraction of 6.3% in 2020, against International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections of a 7.2% decline, as a dramatic drop in agricultural output combined with successive hits to the services and industrial sectors to create the perfect economic storm.
