The consumer price index (CPI) is up by 0.3% in Aug. 2023, compared to the previous month, resulting from a rise in both the food index (+0.2%) and the non-food index (+0.4%), said Morocco’s Statistics and Forecasts Office HCP’s latest report.
The price of food rose 2.8% from July to August 2023, driven mainly by “fruit.” “Vegetables” increased by 2.7%, “Milk, cheese and eggs” and “Coffee, tea and cocoa” by 0.2%, and “Bread and cereals” by 0.1%.
By contrast, the price of “Meat” fell by 2.0%, “Fish and seafood” by 0.8%, and “Oils and fats” by 0.7%. For non-food products, the rise was mainly driven by “Fuels” prices, which were up a dramatic 6.7%.
The greatest rises in the CPI were recorded in Oujda with 1.6%, Fez and Settat with 0.8%, Tetouan and Al-hoceima with 0.7%, Dakhla with 0.6%, Agadir, Kenitra and Laayoune with 0.5%, Marrakech with 0.4% and Casablanca, Meknes, Tangier, Guelmim and Errachidia with 0.3%. On the other hand, Beni-Mellal and Rabat recorded a decline of 1.4% and 0.2% respectively.
The underlying inflation indicator, which excludes products with volatile prices and products with public tariffs, fell by 0.2% in August 2023 compared with July 2023 and rose by 4.9% compared with August 2022.
Likewise, the core inflation indicator for the month of July decreased by 0.2%, representing an increase of 4.9% yoy.
Compared with the same month of the previous year, the consumer price index rose by 5.0% in August 2023, as a result of a 10.4% increase in the food index and a 1.3% rise in the non-food index. For non-food products, variations ranged from 1.8%.