This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
Published on July 14, 2020, the High Commission for Planning (HCP) in Morocco projects the country's economic growth to shrink by 5.8% in 2020.
This decline is a significant drop from the 2.5% increase in 2019, primarily caused by the negative impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and drought.
The HCP has predicted that several sectors will experience negative growth, including:
- Primary sector: a 5.7% decline
- Secondary sector: a 6.9% decline, down from a 3.6% increase in 2019
- Tertiary sector: a 4.5% decline, down from a 3.8% increase in 2019
- Non-agricultural activities: a 5.3% decline, down from a 3.7% increase in 2019
- Unemployment rate: an increase to 14.8%
- Domestic consumption: a 4.4% decline
- Budget deficit: a widening to 7.4%
On July 9, 2020, Morocco extended its state of health emergency, which had been in place since March 24, 2020, by one month.
According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa's GDP is projected to contract by 3.4% in 2020, with cumulative GDP losses ranging between $173.1 billion and $236.7 billion in 2020-2021.
The AfDB also projects that GDP losses for 2021 could range from $27.6 billion (baseline) to $47 billion (worst case) from the potential GDP of $2.76 trillion without the pandemic.
