Morocco's trade deficit increased by 7.7 percent to a total of 19.5 billion U.S. dollars between January and November this year, the foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday.

According to the statistics, the rise in the deficit was driven by a 8.8-percent increase in imports to 45.5 billion dollars, particularly due to a hike in energy bill of 18.4 percent, raw materials of 18.2 percent and equipment of 7.8 percent.

Morocco's exports also increased by 9.7 percent to reach over 26 billion dollars, but remained far less in value than imports.

The increase in exports was pushed by a hike of 13.2 percent in phosphate, 13.1 percent in aeronautics products and 10.6 percent in car industry products.