Morocco's trade deficit increased by 48.7 percent year-on-year to 14.9 billion U.S. dollars as of June, the kingdom's foreign exchange regulator said in a report on Wednesday.

In the first half of 2022, Morocco's imports increased by 44.2 percent year-on-year to 36.19 billion U.S. dollars, while its exports reached 21.29 billion U.S. dollars, up by 41.2 percent, the Foreign Exchange Office reported.

Energy imports have more than doubled to reach 7.07 billion U.S. dollars, while imports of semi-products increased by 55.2 percent, the report noted.

Food imports have increased by 43.4 percent, it added.

Exports of the automotive sector amounted to 5.23 billion U.S. dollars during the same period, up 30.1 percent year-on-year, it said.