Soaring Meat Prices Strain Moroccan Budgets for Eid al-Adha Celebrations
The continued rise in the price of meat in Morocco is affecting the cost of the Eid Al-Adha sacrifice for many Moroccan households.
According to the High Commission for Planning (HCP), in 2023 the average price of animals for slaughter is 2,400 dirhams, an average annual increase of 5% since 2019. In total, Moroccans will have spent more than 18 billion dirhams.
For the poorest households, Eid Al-Adha represents a significant financial burden, accounting for up to 42% of their monthly budget. In comparison, the wealthiest households see their monthly budget impacted by only 13.3%. Expenses related to this holiday also weigh on the annual budget allocated to meat, with an average percentage of 29%, reaching up to 32.6% for the 20% poorest households.
A correlation has also been observed between the standard of living and the level of education of the head of household and non-participation in the ritual of sacrifice. Nearly a sixth of the wealthiest households (16.4%) do not perform the sacrifice, compared to only 2.5% for the poorest households. This percentage is even higher for households whose head has reached a higher education level, with 17.2% of them not sacrificing a sheep.
National statistics indicate that the number of households that did not perform the ritual of sacrifice during Eid Al-Adha has slightly increased, from 4.7% in 2013-2014 to 7.9% in 2019-2020. This may be due to the growing inflation in meat prices.
