Auteur :
Muzart
Thibaut
Date de publication : 30/09/2010
Type : Article
Thème : Développement humain
Couverture :
Maroc
Morocco’s economy was affected by the global recession in 2009, but the impact was moderate and localized. GDP growth slowed to 4.9%, down from 5.6% in 2008. The global recession affected Morocco’s economy primarily through its close economic relationship with Europe. The EU (especially France and Spain) accounts for 55% of Morocco’s total external trade, 81% of its tourism receipts and 91% of its remittance inflows. In the first half of 2009 compared to the first half of 2008, the deceleration of growth in the EU caused both Moroccan exports and FDI to decline by 34%, while tourism receipts fell by 14% and remittance inflows by 12%. Non-agricultural GDP grew by only 2.6% in 2009, against 3.9% in 2008). The impact of the recession was tempered by structural reforms that increased the share of non-agricultural sectors over the past decade, by sound economic management that gave the government room to increase spending in 2009 and by a strong financial sector largely isolated from international financial markets. In addition, an exceptional harvest caused the agricultural sector, which accounts for 15-19% of GDP2, to perform spectacularly in 2009, almost doubling its growth from 2008 (30.6% vs. 16.3%). The performance of the agricultural sector, which employs 42% of the labor force, had a strong positive effect on both GDP growth and private consumption. Private consumption continued to grow in 2009, although more slowly than in 2008 (4.0% vs. 6.0%).