Following the significant setbacks that were caused by COVID-19, the textile and garment sector in Morocco is once again thriving. The industry places a significant emphasis on exports, which reached a record high of 44 billion Moroccan dirhams ($4.25 billion) in 2022 after increasing by a fifth year-on-year. In spite of severe competition from other countries across the world, the nation is today the eighth-largest provider of clothing and textiles in Europe.
When Romania became a full member of the European Union in 2007, Morocco’s fortunes as a centre of textile production took another turn for the worst. It took some time, but eventually, a significant number of that country’s employees moved on to other, higher-paying sectors, which assisted in restoring Morocco’s textile industry’s cost competitiveness.
More in recent times, the steady fightback that Morocco was making has been seriously hampered by the COVID-19 epidemic. The sector’s total exports dropped from Dh37 billion ($3.6 billion) in 2019 to less than Dh30 billion ($2.9 billion) in 2020. They eventually made it back to levels that were close to what they were before the epidemic, and then in 2022, they hit a record high of Dh44 billion.
According to the official statistics provided by the government of Morocco, the textile industry now consists of 1,600 registered businesses and generated a total revenue of Dh60 billion ($5.6 billion) in 2017. This year, exports contributed Dh40 billion ($3.9 billion) to the total, up from Dh36 billion ($3.5 billion) in 2018.
