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The Moroccan economy continues its upward trajectory, and the limit, at least in the short term, does not seem to be in sight. This is also reflected in data, such as the new International Agricultural Report published by the United States Department of Agriculture, which points to Morocco as the fifteenth largest exporter of fruit in the world. This rise in the number of exports gains even more importance if the data from past reports are taken into account. Since 2016, Morocco has doubled its figures, from $729 million to $1.5 billion.
This increase in fruit exports is largely due to blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. These three alone account for more than 60% of the growth over the last five years. Within this sector, Morocco's share of exports has risen from 3 to 6.5% globally, making it one of the world's top ten berry exporters.
What does not seem to have changed are the Alawi kingdom's partners. The European Union remains the main market for fruit exports, receiving around 70% of its exports. More specifically, Spain and France are the countries that import the largest quantities of Moroccan fruit. Outside the Union's borders, the United Kingdom has replaced Russia as the second largest destination with 10%, followed by Canada and the United States, which account for just under 5% each. Morocco is the only African country with a free trade agreement with the United States.
One aspect that has favoured Rabat's rise in the ranking of world fruit exporters has been the increase in demand for the products on which the Alawi kingdom has focused its production in recent years, such as the aforementioned berries. The improvement in the quality of the harvest and packaging of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries in the last decade has led to a significant increase in demand, which Morocco has taken advantage of to increase its production. Thus, exports of Moroccan berries have quadrupled to 40,000 tonnes.
Moreover, if this rise has been possible, it is largely due to the existence of major infrastructures, such as the largest container port in the Mediterranean, located in Tangiers. The port of Tangier Med is connected to more than 170 ports in 77 countries, and has a processing capacity of nine million containers and 700,000 trucks. It should not be forgotten that, in addition to the infrastructures already in place, Morocco is working to improve what it already has and to create new ones to establish itself as a regional leader. The construction of a new deep-water port in the city of Dakhla is already underway and is expected to be operational by 2027.
