France held the first place in 2019 as a country issuing travel receipts with 25.7 billion dirhams, that is a share of 32.6%, said the Office in its annual report on Balance of Payments and Morocco's international investment position.

Spain follows with 6.68 billion dirhams, then the United Kingdom (6.31 bln MAD), noted the report, adding that Saudi Arabia is the first Arab country to issue travel receipts (2.78 bln MAD).

As for expenditure, it increased significantly, going from 18.6 bln MAD in 2018 to 20.9 bln MAD in 2019, while in 2008, this expenditure reached only 8.5 bln MAD.

In 2019, travel expenses are mainly composed of spending on tourism (55%), followed by tuition fees (25.4%), then travel for religious purposes (9%), noted the Office.

In 2019, the structure of service receipts by component remained stable. The share of travel receipts in total service receipts stabilized at 42%, followed by transport receipts (stable at 19%).

According to the report, receipts from services reached 186.3 bln MAD in 2019 against 174.9 bln MAD in 2018, an increase of 6.5% or +11.4 bln MAD, combined with a slight drop in spending of 0.7% or 0.7 bln MAD.

The surplus balance of services recorded a clear improvement of 15.9% or +12.1 bln MAD, said the same source.