Casablanca – The indices of import and export unit values recorded in 2022 increases of respectively 25% and 21.2% compared to the previous year, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

According to the HCP’s most current report on foreign trade indices, the index of import unit values increased 17% in the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4-2022) compared to the same quarter of 2021.

According to the same source, this increase is primarily the result of increases in the unit values of “energy and lubricants,” “half products,” “food, beverages, and tobacco,” “finished consumer products,” “finished industrial equipment,” “raw animal and vegetable products,” and “finished agricultural equipment.” These increases totaled 33.2%, 24.8%, 9.6%, 6.4%, 18.6%, and 19.9%, respectively.

The index of unit values for export, on the other hand, showed an increase of 10.7% during Q4-2022 in comparison to the corresponding quarter the year prior. This increase is primarily attributable to increases in the unit values of “semi-finished products” by 8.1%, “finished industrial equipment” by 37.6%, “raw materials of mineral origin” by 40.8%, “raw materials of animal and vegetable origin” by 19.4%, and “energy and lubricants” by 10.5%.

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The High Commission for Planning conducted a study on the economic, social and psychological impact of the Corona pandemic on Moroccan households, the study shows that 21 per cent of women expressed their suffering from crowded households during the lockdown, Compared to 16,4% of men.

In its econometric study on “gender-based analysis of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economic, social and psychological situation of families,” the HCP added that data of the second phase of the research revealed that 18.7 per cent of the population suffered from overcrowding during the lockdown.

Economic analysis of the results of the study confirmed that when a woman is the head of the household, the possibility of psychological consequences increases. The anxiety is greater when women are the sole breadwinners of their families.

The same report highlighted that living in an urban area increases not only the possibility of suffering from psychological consequences, but also the possibility of facing quarrels among family members due to overcrowded houses which applies to the case of families in which there are 3 or more people living in one room.

The commission noted that these results are justified by the average population density, which is higher in the urban areas compared to the rural areas.

The report records that facing severe difficulties in fulfilling financial obligations is parallel to suffering from psychological impacts, which increases the level of anxiety and domestic conflicts.

On the other hand, the report added that the presence of conflicts within the family increases the suffering from the psychological repercussions, considering that these interconnected causes, confirm that women have suffered more than men from the Covid-19 pandemic effects.

In a related context, the results of the second phase of the report showed that women expressed their anxiety about the emergence of a new Covid-19 wave (36.8%), more than what was recorded among men (31.4%).

This report was based on the results of research carried out by the High Commission for Planning on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economic, social and psychological situation of households, within the framework of a partnership program with the United Nations Women, aims to encourage and support institutions to produce and publish statistics related to gender, as well as to facilitate access to these statistic studies for all interested people in Morocco.

The report is based on information gathered from two studies conducted by the High Commission for Planning during and after the lockdown, to provide an analysis of the consequences of both the Covid-19 health crisis, and the various governmental measures taken to mitigate its effects. The report shows the severity of this crisis from a gender perspective, as well as praises the public policies that executed several positive measures.

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At a time when Morocco is accelerating the pace and redoubling efforts in order to ensure social welfare for all citizens, a report issued by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) stated that more than half of working Moroccans (55.2%) do not have an employment contract that regulates their relations with their employer, and sets out terms and conditions of employment.

The report also emphasized that more than a quarter (26.4%) work under indefinite duration contracts (CDI), 12.2% under fixed-term contracts (CDD) and 6.2% under oral employment contracts.

According to a note regarding the basic characteristics of the active population employed during the year 2020, the percentage of Moroccans who do not have an employment contract reached 43.2% for women compared to 58.2% for men; these percentages were 43% and 58% in 2019.

During the year 2020, nearly a quarter of the employed population (24.7%) benefited from employment-based health insurance (36.6% in cities and 8.2% in rural areas). In 2019, these percentages were 36.4% and 7.8% respectively.

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The High Commission for Planning (HCP) stated, this Wednesday February 17th, that 54% of active workers during 2020 do not have any degrees, indicating that 30.5% of the employees have a basic education diploma, and 15.2% have a higher degree.

In a note regarding the basic features of active population working during the year 2020, the HCP stated that 80.8% of active workers in the sector of agriculture, forestry and fisheries do not have any degrees, with 59.2% in the sector of construction and public works, 45.2% in the industrial sector and traditional industry, and finally 37.4% in the sector of services.

According to the same source, the working active population living in rural areas during 2020 constituted 41.8% (21.5% of which were females), while youth between 15 and 34 years old accounted for 35.1 % of the total number. As for young people between 15 and 24 years old, they represented 9%, while people between 25 and 34 years old represented 26.1%.

With regard to the employment rate, the HCP highlighted, in the same note, that it fell by 0.3 points during the last three years 2017-2019, to record a decrease of 2.2 points between 2019 and 2020, noting that this decrease was important in rural areas, “as it moved from 50.3% to 47%, which is equivalent to 3.3 points in rural areas, while in urban areas, this rate moved from 36.9% to 35.3% (1.6 points).” The decrease in this rate, according to the HCP, is more noticeable among men (2.6 points) than among women (1.9 points).

By distributing labor force according to the sector of activity, it is clear that the sector of services employs 4,820,000 people (45.7%), followed by agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector with 3,295,000 people, (31.3%), and then industrial sector and traditional industry with 1,280,000 people, (12.1%), and lastly construction and public works with 1,139,000 people (equivalent to 10.8%).

As concerns rural areas, 68% of the employed labour force works in the sector of farming, forestry and fisheries, while 17.9% work in the sector of services.

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