Nowcasting and Forecasting Morocco GDP growth using Google Trends data

Search analytics and web data are widely used by media, politicians, economists, and scientists in various decision-making processes, it offers new opportunities to improve economic and demographic insights, and complement traditional data sources. In this paper, we intend to explore the potential of Google trends data as a valuable alternative data source to forecast and nowcast Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Morocco. The method we follow consists of constructing a Google trends index and using it to improve an auto-regressive model for forecasting and nowcasting GDP growth. The study finds that indeed the addition of an Internet search index improves GDP growth forecasting. In the following pages, we will discuss the reasons for the varied success and potential avenues for future research. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors.