Innovative property investments
Investment property in Poland
Buying Guide
Economic Transition
Rising industrial outputs
The country‘s 17.1 million-strong workforce is divided into the following occupations: agriculture - 16.1%, industry and manufacturing 29%, and services 54.9%.
In contrast with many EU countries, Poland‘s industrial output is growing - it increased 3.7% in 2005.
The main industrial products include machinery, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, and textiles.
The main agricultural products are potatoes, fruit, vegetables, wheat, poultry, eggs, pork, and dairy produce.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Poland's agricultural sector remains handicapped by surplus labour, inefficient small farms, and a lack of investment.
But farmers have already begun to reap the rewards of EU membership via booming exports, higher food prices, and agricultural subsidies.
Privatisation underway
The gradual dismantling of the communist system has resulted in the privatization of small- and medium-sized state-owned companies and a liberal law on starting new firms has led to rapid growth of the private sector.
These plus points are counter-balanced by a labyrinthine legal system, multi-layered bureaucracy and widespread corruption.
The CIA World Factbook gives a frank assessment of the current economic situation:
“Restructuring and privatization of ‘sensitive sectors‘ (such as coal, steel, railroads, and energy), while recently initiated, have stalled. Reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on reducing losses in Polish state enterprises, restraining entitlements and overhauling the tax code to incorporate the growing grey economy and farmers, most of whom pay no tax. The previous Socialist-led government introduced a package of social and administrative spending cuts to reduce public spending by about 17 billion USD through 2007, but full implementation of the plan was trumped by election-year politics in 2005. The right-wing Law and Justice party won parliamentary elections in September, and Lech Kaczynski won the presidential election in October 2005, running on a state-interventionist fiscal and monetary platform.”
Benefiting from EU membership
Having joined the EU in May 2004, surging exports to the EU contributed to Poland’s strong growth that year, and it benefited from nearly 23.2 billion USD in EU funds in 2006.
Key facts
- Industrial output is growing and increased 3.7% in 2005
- A liberal law on starting new firms has led to rapid growth of the private sector
- Many Western companies are investing heavily in Poland, opening offices and factories there, and attracting overseas workers
- Transition to greater privatization is underway
- Unemployment is high: 18.2% in 2005
Downloadable Reports and Documents
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