Safi – Netflix has become a staple in many Moroccan households, with its monthly subscription now as routine as paying the Wi-Fi bill. Starting September 2, however, that routine will cost a little more.
The streaming giant is raising subscription prices across Morocco, with its two most popular plans increasing by more than 20%.
Existing subscribers will automatically see the new rates reflected in their next billing cycle, with no action required on their part.
The new numbers
The Essential plan moves from MAD 37 to MAD 45 ($4.85) a month, a jump of roughly 22 percent.
The Standard plan, the one most households actually watch on, rises from MAD 65 to MAD 80 ($8.60), up 23 percent.
At the top sits the Premium tier, now MAD 115 ($12.40).
The full spread of plans runs from MAD 45 to MAD 115 ($4.85 to $12.40), which still leaves Morocco among the gentler Netflix markets in the region.
What Netflix says
Netflix frames the increase the way streaming services always do, as an investment in the catalog itself.
The email to subscribers points to “even more new releases and entertainment” and a “consistently improved experience,” and promises at least 64 new films and series in the month ahead.
It is a familiar bargain. A little more each month, and the library keeps growing.
The catch in the calendar
The timing tells a second story. Less than three months before the price change, Morocco switched on a new tax pointed squarely at companies like Netflix.
Since June 11, foreign digital companies selling services to users in Morocco have been required to register with the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI), report their Moroccan sales every quarter, and pay a 20% value-added tax (VAT), the standard rate applied to most goods and services in the country.
The measure comes out of the country’s 2024 Finance Law and falls on Netflix, Meta, Google, and TikTok alike.
Netflix has not tied the two together. Its statement talks about content, not taxes, and coincidence is not proof.
Still, a 20 percent tax arriving weeks before a 22 percent price rise is a pattern worth noticing.
What it means for subscribers here
The increase is modest on paper, MAD 8 for the Essential plan and MAD 15 for the Standard, but whether it feels insignificant or noticeable depends on the subscriber.
For the comfortable subscriber it disappears into the monthly total, unmourned.
For households watching every dirham, the increase may feel more significant. The extra MAD 15 could cover a day’s bus fare or a simple lunch, making the price hike more noticeable than it appears on paper.
Small sums, until a whole market pays them at once and they quietly cover both a tax bill and a fresh season of something.
Morocco is hardly singled out. Netflix has spent two years teaching the Middle East and North Africa to expect its prices to drift one way, and September keeps the lesson going.
The night in is still cheaper than the night out. It was just never the same bargain for everyone.
