Morocco's Consumer Price Index Rises 0.7% in 2020, Food Prices Up 0.9%
At the end of 2020, the annual average consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.7% compared to 2019. This is what the High Commission for Planning (HCP) indicated in an information note.
The increase in the CPI stems from the rise in the index of food products and non-food products by 0.9% and 0.5% respectively. The diversities noted for non-food products range from a 1.6% drop for "Transport" to a 2.7% increase for "Education", the HCP said, adding that from this result, the underlying inflation indicator, which excludes volatile price products and public tariff products, would have increased by 0.5% in 2020 compared to 2019.
As for the cities, the largest increases in the annual CPI were recorded in Guelmim with 2.1%, in Beni-Mellal with 1.3%, in Tangier and Laâyoune with 1%, in Agadir, Rabat and Meknes with 0.9%, in Marrakech, Settat and Al-hoceima with 0.8% and in Errachidia with 0.7%. On the other hand, in Fez and Kenitra, nothing changed.
In December 2020, the CPI fell by 0.5% compared to November 2020. A change due to the 1.4% decline in the food products index and the 0.1% increase in the non-food products index. Furthermore, the declines in food products recorded between November and December 2020 mainly concern "Vegetables" with 6.5%, "Fruits" with 5.2%, "Meats" with 1.2% and "Fish and seafood" with 0.5%.
However, prices rose by 0.6% for "Oils and fats" and 0.2% for "Milk, cheese and eggs". Regarding non-food products, the increase was based on "Fuels" prices by 3.5%. For the underlying inflation indicator, it would have recorded an increase of 0.1% during December, compared to November 2020, the HCP specified.
