The HCP said that GDP growth rate excluding agriculture fell from 4.2% in 2008 to 1.4% in 2009, adding however that economic growth last year benefited from a rise of 30% in Agriculture's value added in volume.

The commission also explained that economic growth in Morocco continued to be driven by domestic demand, whose contribution to the GDP stood at 6.8% in 2009, against 8.5 points in 2008.

In this context, households' consumption expenditure increased in volume by 4% from 6% in 2008, contributing by 2.3 percentage points to GDP growth.

For its part, the GFCF (gross fixed capital formation) grew by 2.5% in 2009 against 11.5% a year earlier. Its contribution to GDP growth was thus limited to 0.8% against 3.6 points in 2008.

Concerning foreign trade, the HCP revealed that this sector, including both goods and services, contracted sharply in 2009, indicating that the volume of exports fell by 13.1% and imports of by 6%.

The statistics body explained that this situation is a result of a decline in non-resident tourists spending (-6.8%) and a decline in exports of mineral products (-45.1%), agricultural products (-13.6%), as well as textiles and clothing products (-9.4 pc).

As for the Gross National Disposable Income, standing at about MAD 780 billion, it increased by 4.6% against 10.9% in 2008, the HCP said, adding that this trend is due to a fall in net foreign income (-22.8% in 2009 against +1.7% in 2008), as transfers by Moroccans living abroad contracted 5.4%.

Concerning the future, the High Commission had said earlier that Morocco's economic growth should reach 4.1% in 2010 compared, as non-agricultural sectors are expected to grow 5.9% in 2010.