MGI Weekly round-up | 5 January 2018

Stories MGI has been tracking this week:

  • Spain and France were Morocco’s top trade partners in 2016
  • Climate in Greece’s manufacturing sector continues to improve in December
  • Croatia expects a record number of tourists in 2018

 
And as always, we feature content from the MGI data and analysis platform, a summary of the week’s key statistical releases, and a look to the week ahead in data. This week we use the MGI platform (TRADE section) to see the main trading partners of Morocco.


Spain and France were Morocco’s top trade partners in 2016 

According to Morocco’s foreign exchange regulatory authority, Spain remained the main trading partner of Morocco in 2016, while France - which has long been the leading trading partner of the Kingdom - ranked second. Turnover with these countries amounted to $10.6 billion (+14% compared to 2015) and $9.5 billion (+13% versus 2015), respectively.
 
The most important exports of Morocco consist of cars, insulated cables, mixed mineral or chemical fertilizers, phosphoric acid and non-knitted women's costumes, while the most important imports are petroleum products, cars, wheat, oil and insulated wires.
 
In 2016, total exports from the North African country amounted to $22.6 billion, while imports were $41.5 billion, indicating a trade balance deficit of $18.9 billion, The North African Post reports.
 

Climate in Greece’s manufacturing sector continues to improve in December

Greece's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.1 in December 2017(+1.1 points compared to the previous month), the seventh consecutive month of expansion. The index recorded the highest increase since June 2008. In addition, business confidence reached its highest level in the last 5 ½ years.
 
“The Greek manufacturing sector closed out 2017 on a firmly positive footing. Strong expansions in new orders, on both a domestic and foreign basis continued to drive the upturn…The data buoy hopes the Greek economy has finally turned a corner and is on a path to recovery. Indeed, with business confidence hitting a record high, output looks set to increase and support growth, at least in the short term," IHS Markit economist Alex Gill said.
 
The IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI is a composite index measuring performance in the manufacturing sector. A PMI above 50 indicates an expansion compared to the previous month, a reading below 50 indicates a contraction, while a reading of 50 shows no change.
 

Croatia expects a record number of tourists in 2018 

According to the Croatian Ministry of Tourism, tourist arrivals are projected to reach a record of 20 million this year (+1.5 million versus the estimated value for 2017), while overnight stays are expected to increase by 8 million compared to 2017, reaching 110 million. In addition, revenue from tourism as well as investment in this sector are expected to increase to €12 billion (+€0.5 billion compared to 2017) and €950 million (+€100 million compared to 2017) respectively.
 
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the tourism and travel industry accounted for about 10.7% of the nation’s GDP in 2016, SeeNews reports.
 

Featured content from the MGI data and analysis portal 

In this newsletter, we use the TRADE section (TREEMAP) of the MGI platform to look at Morocco's major trading partners. As we can see, the North African country imports products mainly from Spain, France, China, the USA and Germany and exports mainly to Spain, France, Italy, India and the USA. The figures show that Spain and France are Morocco's main trading partners.
 
The TRADE section (TREEMAP) section offers two other options for "Trade Partners", i.e. Mediterranean or non-Mediterranean countries. Morocco's main trading partners in the Med are Spain, France, Italy and Turkey.

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The week in data


Highlights from national statistics releases tracked by MGI this week include:

 

 

Looking ahead 

Next week, we expect data on industrial production, consumer and business confidence, and trade balance for several Mediterranean countries. MGI’s complete data release schedule can be viewed at our release calendar section.
 
Monday 8 January, 2017:

  • Turkey IPI for November
  • Croatia balance of trade for November
  • Croatia consumer and business confidence for December
  • Cyprus consumer and business confidence for December
  • France retail sales for November
  • France 3-month-6-month and 12-month BTF auction
  • Greece balance of trade for November
  • Greece consumer and business confidence for December
  • Malta consumer and business confidence for December
  • Malta retail sales for November
  • Spain business confidence for December
  • Albania business and consumer confidence for 2017Q4
  • Israel budget balance for December 

Tuesday 9 January, 2017:

  • Turkey retail sales for November
  • France current account for November
  • Italy unemployment rate and employment for November
  • Slovenia balance of trade for November
  • Croatia PPI for December
  • Cyprus balance of trade for November
  • Greece IPI for November
  • Malta balance of trade for November
  • Israel tourist arrivals for December

Wednesday 10, 2017:

  • Egypt inflation and core inflation rate for December
  • France IPI for November
  • Slovenia IPI for November
  • Malta IPI for November
  • Tunisia PPI for November
  • Israel consumer confidence for December
  • Israel central bank interest rate decision

Thursday 11 January, 2017:

  • France domestic and harmonized inflation for December, final estimates
  • Spain IPI for November
  • Italy retail sales for November and 12-month BOT auction
  • Greece unemployment rate and employment for October
  • Israel balance of trade for December

Friday 12 January, 2017:

  • Palestinian Territories inflation rate for December
  • Turkey current account for November
  • Spain domestic and harmonized inflation for December, final estimates
  • Italy IPI for November
  • Italy 3-year and 7-year BTP auction
  • Greece domestic and harmonized inflation for December
  • Montenegro retail sales for November
  • Tunisia IPI for November and balance of trade for December
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