Morocco has extended an expiring wheat import subsidy program to end 2025 to help overcome drought-related domestic shortage.
The Maghreb nation’s National Interprofessional Office for Cereals and Legumes (ONICL) on March 18 stretched the current subsidies till December 31, 2025.
Although the country expects a harvest comeback later in the year, the grain crop failure in 2024 is still pertinent.
2024’s barley and soft/durum wheat harvests fell 40% from those of the previous season and sparked subsidization to facilitate cheap imports.
Concerning the 2024-25 grain harvest, the Bank Al Maghrib forecasts a slight comeback at 35 million quintals.
The upward estimate for the current cereal crop however still trails the impressive 2022-23 harvest that had hit 55.1 million quintals.
Based on these facts, analysts think that the decision to extend the subsidies points to probable 2025 crop insufficiency.
As one of the three biggest consumers of wheat in Africa, Morocco perpetually buffers against wheat shortage by easing imports.
But whenever there is a bumper crop at home, the country cuts the bulk of imports to protect the farmers’ welfare.
Traditionally, imports have been coming from the European Union including rising importer, Poland, although Russia has been getting priority treatment recently. This despite the fact that of late in March 2025 some shipments from Russia halted at point of origin over health concerns.
Import dependency in the Maghreb is perennially pegged to weather conditions and water supplies for wheat fields. According to local authorities, the filling rate of reservoirs has notably increased in 2025 to 33%, equal to five billion cubic meters of water. This improvement could help balance reigning production and import trends, per below statistics.
Morocco Wheat Statistics
Morocco depends heavily on wheat for Arabian bread and exotic dishes such as bulgur pilaf, alongside other bakery. With annual wheat consumption above 6.743 million tonnes (2021) and production at 4.15 million tonnes (2023), the country regularly resorts to imports. In a good year when barley, soft wheat and durum wheat flourish, the imports normally reduce significantly. In recent years, however, especially in the early 2020s, production has been unpredictable due to drought.
How has production of wheat in Morocco behaved in the 2020s?
In 2022, Morocco produced over 2.707 million tonnes of wheat while in 2023, the volume increased to 4.158 million tonnes. This is despite acreage slicing from 2.436 million hectares (ha) in 2022 to 2.434 million ha in 2023, according to FAOSTAT. Meanwhile, 2024 saw a sharp reduction as production reverted to 2022 levels at 3.1 million tonnes, sparking import subsidies.
How much wheat does Morocco import annually?
In 2023, Morocco was the world’s 10th biggest wheat importer at a value of $1.84 billion. The commodity also ranked the 6th biggest import of the year for the country. Most 2023’s imports were from the European Union, led by France ($663 million). By 2024, Russia had become one of the biggest sources after exporting $72.1 million in wheat to Morocco in 2023.
Is Morocco a big consumer of wheat?
Morocco ranks in the top 3 of wheat consumption per capita in Africa, as well as in volume. In 2021, not only was it 3rd on the continent but 6th in world consumption, too, at 6.743 million tonnes. Its per capita hovers at 182 kg per person per year (2021), the third highest in Africa.