Major Shift in Morocco Trading with Spain… Rabat Tips The balance with $3 billion Surplus – The North Africa Post

Trade exchanges between Morocco and Spain witnessed a major shift in 2025, as the bilateral trade balance tilted in favor of Rabat for the first time, ending Madrid's decades-long dominance in terms of exports to the Moroccan market. According to the United Nations COMTRADE database, Morocco exports to Spain reached $19.61 billion in 2025, while its imports from the European country totaled $16.51 billion during the same. Morocco exports to Spain consist mainly of electrical & electronic equipment ($5.6 Billion), non-knit apparel ($4.2 Bln), vehicles ($2.8 Bln), Fish, crustaceans, and aquatic invertebrates ($1.08 Bln). Morocco's imports from Spain include vehicles ($2.4 Bln), mineral fuels ($2.3 B), and machinery ($1.9 Bln). Morocco has become Africa's leading automotive manufacturing powerhouse. Factories in Tangier and Kenitra build vehicles, produce electronics, and wiring harnesses that are shipped directly into Spain's own domestic car assembly infrastructure. Morocco is also one of Spain's largest non-EU providers of food, shipping annually nearly $2 billion in mollusks, red fruits, legumes, and vegetables. Major Spanish fashion conglomerates rely heavily on Moroccan textile factories. Raw textiles are often sent from Spain to Morocco to be sewn into finished garments, which are quickly trucked back across the Strait to stock European store shelves within days. When Morocco exports a high- value goods than it buys back from Spain, this means that hard currency (Euros) is pumped into the Moroccan economy. Thanks to its geostrategic position, political stability, proximity to Europe, incentives to investors and open-market economy, Morocco has succeeded in building a major global competitive industrial ecosystem. Several Spanish companies rely on Moroccan factories to build components (like car wiring harnesses or assembled clothing pieces). These are then exported to Spain to be finalized or sold across the European market and beyond.