Inflation: The CPI rises by 0.9% in March

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded an increase of 0.9% in March compared with the same month of the previous year, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

This development is the result of a 0.6% increase in the food products index and a 1.1% rise in the non‑food products index, the HCP explains in an information note relating to the CPI for March 2026.

For non‑food products, changes range from a decrease of 0.4% for “Leisure and culture” to an increase of 3.5% for “Miscellaneous goods and services”, the same source specifies.

Compared with the previous month of February, the CPI rose by 1.2% in March 2026, driven by a 1.9% increase in the food products index and a 0.6% rise in the non‑food products index.

The increases in food product prices observed between February and March 2026 mainly concerned “Vegetables” (9.7%), “Fruit” (2.6%), “Meat” (2.4%), “Fish and seafood” (1.3%), and “Coffee, tea and cocoa” (0.3%).

By contrast, prices fell by 2.4% for “Oils and fats” and by 0.2% for “Milk, cheese and eggs”. As for non‑food products, the increase mainly concerned “Fuels”, with a rise of 10.7%.

The most significant increases in the CPI were recorded in Guelmim and Al Hoceima (2.7%), Errachidia (1.8%), Agadir (1.6%), Safi (1.4%), Tangier (1.3%), Marrakech, Dakhla and Beni Mellal (1.2%), Laâyoune (1.1%), Casablanca, Oujda and Tetouan (1.0%), Kenitra, Rabat and Meknes (0.9%), and Fez and Settat (0.7%).

Under these conditions, the core inflation indicator, which excludes volatile‑price products and items with regulated public tariffs, is reported to have recorded, in March 2026, an increase of 0.1% on a month‑on‑month basis and a decline of 0.6% compared with March 2025.