Morocco's trade deficit increased 8 percent to 8.8 billion U.S. dollars between January and July in 2018 compared with the same period of last year, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday.

According to the statistics, the rise in the deficit was driven by a 9.8-percent increase in imports to 24.8 billion dollars, particularly due to a hike in energy bill by 16.8 percent, equipment by 12.1 percent and raw materials by 19.2 percent.

Morocco's exports increased by 11.2 percent to over 16 billion dollars, but remained far less than imports.

The increase in exports was pushed by a rise of 19.8 percent in aeronautics products, 16.9 percent in car industry and 15.1 percent in phosphate exports.