Moroccans spent a staggering MAD 26.7 billion (USD 2.6 billion) on international travel as of November 2024, exceeding the total expenditures recorded for all of 2023, according to SNRT News.
This marks a sharp increase of MAD 4.5 billion (USD 446 million) compared to the same period last year when spending reached MAD 22.2 billion (USD 2.2 billion).
Travel spending, which includes foreign currency used for tourism, religious pilgrimages, education, training, and medical treatments abroad, has surged since the steep decline during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Spending jumped from MAD 10.03 billion (USD 1 billion) in 2021 to MAD 17.58 billion (USD 1.7 billion) in 2022, followed by MAD 22.2 billion (USD 2.2 billion) in 2023, and now MAD 26.7 billion (USD 2.6 billion) this year.
The Office des Changes, Morocco’s foreign exchange regulator, caps the amount of foreign currency Moroccans can carry abroad at MAD 100,000 (USD 10,000) annually, with an allowance of up to MAD 300,000 (USD 30,000) under specific conditions.