Morocco's Pharmaceutical Trade Deficit Set to Reach 13.4 Billion Dirhams by 2030
Morocco's pharmaceutical trade deficit reached 10.3 billion dirhams in 2025 and is projected to climb to 13.4 billion by 2030, amid new customs measures and a modernized pharmaceutical law.
Morocco's pharmaceutical trade deficit is projected to reach 13.4 billion dirhams by 2030, after hitting 10.3 billion dirhams in 2025, according to an analysis by BMI, a subsidiary of ratings agency Fitch (Fitch Solutions), as medicine imports continue their record rise into early 2026.
Medicine Imports Accelerate Since Early 2026
Morocco's medicine imports rose 14.8% between January and July 2026 to reach 8.59 billion dirhams, continuing the trend that marked all of 2025.
| Indicator | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine imports (2025) | 11.9 billion dirhams | +17.4% |
| Medicine exports (2025) | 1.6 billion dirhams | +1.2% |
| Trade deficit (2025) | 10.3 billion dirhams | up from an earlier forecast of 9.2 billion |
| Medicine imports (Jan.-Jul. 2026) | 8.59 billion dirhams | +14.8% |
| Trade deficit (2030 forecast) | 13.4 billion dirhams | — |
Government Measures to Regulate the Sector
Facing this widening deficit, the government has taken a series of customs and regulatory measures: cutting customs duties from 30% to 2.5% on 112 essential medicines, with partial cuts on 10 additional products to ease patient access. Conversely, customs duties were raised on 34 other pharmaceutical products to protect the local pharmaceutical industry from foreign competition.
On the legislative front, the government adopted a new pharmaceutical code (Law No. 27.26) on June 22, 2026, aiming to cut authorization delays for new medicines from an average of 3 years to just 9 to 12 months, which should speed up Moroccan patients' access to recent treatments and encourage investment in local manufacturing.
Why This Matters
The widening pharmaceutical trade deficit comes as the state bets on strengthening the healthcare system, after raising the Health Ministry's budget by 30% in the 2026 finance law to a record 42.3 billion dirhams, and continuing to bring new health centers online in several regions of Morocco. Officials are counting on the development of the generic medicines industry, whose market is expected to reach 20.7 billion dirhams by 2030 with average annual growth of 6.3%, to reduce reliance on imports and rein in the medicine bill over the medium term.