The core inflation indicator rose 0.3% month-on-month and 2.4% year-on-year, and the consumer price index ticked up 0.7%, primarily due to a 1.7% rise in the food index and a 0.1% increase in the non-food index, according to Morocco’s Statistics and Forecasts Office (HCP).
The increases in food prices observed between February and March of this year involved cost increases in the following categories: “Fish and Seafood,” 11.6%; “Fruit,” 3.1%; “Vegetables,” 2.5%; “Meat,” 1.7%; “Milk, Cheese and Eggs,” 1.4%; “Sugar, Jam, Honey, Chocolate and Confectionery,” 0.3%; and “Oils and Fats” and “Coffee, Tea and Cocoa” both at 0.1%.
For non-food products, the rise was primarily attributed to “Clothing and Footwear” at 0.4%.
The largest increases in the CPI were recorded in Al-Hoceima (1.5%); Laayoune (1.3%); Tangier and Safi (1.2%); Marrakech and Dakhla (1.1%); Kenitra and Errachidia (1.0%); Agadir, Tétouan and Beni-Mellal (0.9%); Fez and Oujda (0.8%); Rabat and Settat (0.7%); Meknes (0.6%); Guelmim (0.4%); and Casablanca (0.3%).
Compared with the same month of the previous year, the consumer price index rose by 0.9% in March, 2024, as a result of a 0.9% increase in the food index and a 1.1% rise in the non-food index.
In non-food categories, variations ranged from a decrease of 1.2% for “Health” to an increase of 3.3% for “Restaurants and Hotels.”