Even the Billions Sent by Moroccans Abroad No Longer Cover Morocco’s Energy Bill
Moroccans residing abroad transferred 61.5 billion dirhams to Morocco in the first half of 2026. Over the same period, the country’s energy bill reached 68.6 billion. A gap that did not yet exist a year earlier.
As of the end of June 2025, transfers from Moroccans residing abroad, at 55.95 billion dirhams, still exceeded the 53.19 billion allocated to energy and lubricant imports. One year later, the balance had reversed: the energy bill now exceeds transfers from Moroccans residing abroad by more than 7 billion dirhams, according to the latest indicators from the Foreign Exchange Office.
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The gap is explained by the sharp acceleration in energy purchases. Transfers from Moroccans residing abroad increased by 9.9% year-on-year, representing an additional 5.53 billion dirhams. At the same time, the energy bill surged by 28.9%, with nearly 15.4 billion in additional spending.
Diesel tips the balance of the bill
The main culprit is diesel, along with fuel oil. Morocco imported 35.85 billion dirhams’ worth during the first six months of 2026, compared with 24.78 billion a year earlier. The increase reached 44.7%, or more than 11 billion dirhams in additional spending.
Diesel and fuel oil alone thus account for nearly three-quarters of the increase in the energy bill. Petroleum oils and lubricants also rose, from 5.75 to 9.33 billion dirhams. By contrast, purchases of coal and solid fuels fell by 9.6%, to 6.18 billion.
This surge is contributing to the widening trade deficit. Moroccan imports reached 458.78 billion dirhams in the first half of the year, up 15.3%, compared with 260.4 billion in exports. The trade deficit thus amounted to 198.38 billion dirhams, 23.5% more than a year earlier.
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The contrast with Moroccans residing abroad is all the sharper because their transfers continue to rise. But their increase is no longer keeping pace with the energy bill: in the space of a year, the 2.8-billion-dirham lead held by transfers from Moroccans residing abroad turned into a shortfall of more than 7 billion compared with energy imports.
