Statistics Poland (GUS) has published a special report entitled “Poland on the path to balanced development 2020” to mark the fifth anniversary of Poland signing the 2030 Agenda for balanced development.
According to the report, Poland is among the countries steadily catching up to the wealthiest EU economies.
Since 2010, Polish GDP has increased by a whopping 38 percent; meanwhile, the EU’s GDP grew by only around 15 percent. And there is plenty more room for growth, as Polish GDP per capita remains much lower than the region’s average and is still only 72 percent of the EU’s average. Nevertheless, the difference is much smaller than it was in 2010, when the GDP per capita was 62 percent of the EU average.
Growth in work efficiency is also another beneficial tendency for Poland. Compared to 2010, it has seen an increase of 29 percent (contrasted with the EU average of 7 percent) and is nominally 80 percent of the region’s average (compared to 70 percent in 2010).
Economic growth in Poland is fueled by fewer investments than many other EU countries. Gross expenditure on fixed assets in the last few years amounted to around 18 percent of GDP in Poland, while the EU average is slightly above 20 percent.
“The relatively low index of company investments has maintained a level of around 10 percent for years, compared to the region’s 12 percent average. Meanwhile, the scale of the government investment sector in Poland is much higher than in other countries, as annual expenditure reaches 4 to 5 percent of GDP, while the EU average is 3 percent,” Statistics Poland noted in the report.
The report also emphasized that the successive economic growth has benefited the Polish job market.
The employment index has increased from 64 percent in 2010 to 73 percent and is now close to the EU average. The unemployment rate in Poland has also decreased from 10 to 3 percent, a rate that is among the lowest in the region.
Long-term unemployment has also lessened: among the unemployed, 22 percent search for jobs longer than 12 months (compared to 31 percent in 2010). This is lower than the EU average, which still exceeds 40 percent.
