Economy of Poland

The Polish economy is measured by gross domestic product in the year 2010 in the amount of $ 468.5 billion, the twenty largest economy in the world and thus displaces the economy of Belgium from this place last year. At the same time, making it the sixth largest economy in the EU.

• 2.1 transition from a planned economy to a market economy

• 3.1 Agriculture and mining 3.1.1 Agriculture
• 3.1.2 Mining

• 3.3.1 Banks and financial services
• 3.3.2 Infrastructure and Telecommunications

• 5.1 External links
• 5.2 footnotes

Economic data

Current economic development

Inflation in 2009 was 3.5% and unemployment rate was 11.9% (December 2009 ), which accounts for 1.893 million people of working age.

The average monthly income in 2009 amounted to PLN 3324.91, which corresponds to an income increase of 4.4 percent compared to the previous year.

Gross domestic product

Economic growth has been lately in the first quarter of 2007 with 7.4% at the highest. Before joining the EU, the maximum value in the first quarter of 2004 at 6.9%.

The gross domestic product is distributed regionally very different. The richest regions are Mazovia ( 133% of the national average ) and Lower Silesia (114 %). The poorest regions are Lublin (68% of the national average ), Subcarpathian ( 71%) and Holy Cross ( 74%).

Inflation

Labor market

In 1990, the official unemployment rate of 6.1 percent which corresponded to 1.13 million people. A year later, the number had nearly doubled to 11.4 percent. The highest unemployment of the Third Polish Republic was 20.0 percent, about 3.2 million people, achieved in 2002 /2003. In June 2008, the rate was 9.6 percent, accounting for about 1.5 million people of working age. Unemployment in Poland is distributed regionally very different. In the cities of Poznan and Warsaw, the unemployment rate is below 3% in the rural areas of Masuria it is, however, more than 20%. 1990 received 80 % of the registered unemployed unemployment benefits in November 2006, there were still 13.2%.

In Q2 2007, 15% of people employed in agriculture, 30.6 % in industry and 54.2 % in services were active. In 2004, 30 % in the public sector and 70 % worked in the private sector.

Foreign Trade

The export in 2009 included 136.6 billion USD and imports 149.6 billion USD. With 24.4 and 28 %, Germany made the largest trading partner dar. Other important trade partners are the EU countries, Italy, France, Great Britain and the Czech Republic, and the United States and the People's Republic of China.

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment France and Great Britain lead. The share of the Federal Republic is surprisingly small. Foreign investors invest primarily in the financial sector, which has seen double-digit growth in each of the last few years. End of 2004, Poland's largest bank PKO BP was privatized. The merger of Bank Pekao SA and Bank BPH as part of the acquisition of HVB Unicredit by one of the largest banks in Poland came into being. On the other hand, try more and more foreign entrepreneurs to Polish capital on the Warsaw Stock Exchange ( GPW ) to procure.

History

In March 1963 the polarities and the Federal Republic of Germany a trade missions in the other country. After the Federal Republic by the Treaty of Warsaw Poland's western frontier was secured in December 1970, the government believed that it could use to facilitate the population for a price increase and increased the prices of consumer goods by between 13 and 38 percent. There was an uprising of the population. The foreign debt amounted to 1.2 billion in 1970 U.S. dollars. After the uprising, the government hesitated to adopt further price increases and therefore had on June 24, 1976 to raise prices dramatically. So they wanted to increase the prices of butter and cheese by 50 %, meat by 68 % and sugar by 100%. Once again it came to strikes and demonstrations, the government stated it would have been only plans. In 1980 the foreign debt 24.1 billion U.S. dollars with a large part of the borrowings were flowed into consumer spending. On July 1, 1980, the meat prices were increased again. During the subsequent riots led to the formation of the Solidarity trade union.

Transition from a planned economy to a market economy

In 1988, the first reforms with the aim of transforming the Polish central planned economy into a market economy. In contrast to the other socialist countries, but about 20 percent of the companies were in 1988 already in private hands. On 1 January 1989, the establishment of private companies and the registration of commercial activity was facilitated by law. In March 1989, created the opportunity to build private exchange offices. On 1 August 1989, the central pricing for food products was abandoned. At this time, these products are hardly available yet in stores, but primarily sold at street markets and bazaars.

In October 1989, the so-called Balcerowicz Leszek Balcerowicz Plan of was presented. The plan called for a rapid transformation of the socialist economic system to a market economy. A debt moratorium, which could be achieved by Balcerowicz, Poland gave the necessary freedom of action for the reforms. On December 27, 1989, the Sejm passed ten economic laws, which the government had submitted ten days before. This worked out under the direction of Balcerowicz laws are considered one of the most important foundations for economic reforms. Government revenue broke in 1990 and 1991 because of the general recession excessively. Inflation amounted to 1990 585 percent, but declined to 160.4 percent in 1991 already. Industrial production fell by 27 percent, real wages by 30 percent. On 16 April 1991, the Warsaw Stock Exchange ( GPW ) was opened. On 1 January 1995, the zloty with 10,000 old to a new zloty (PLN) was re-evaluated in the context of a currency reform.

With the transition to a market economy and the importance of mining declined. The former importance as a source of foreign currency waned and the industry had to face the competition. 1989 404.000 people in the mining industry were employed, three years later there were only 350,000.

In 1989, 5.1 million workers employed in agriculture, which produced in 1990 five percent of the gross domestic product. The workforce in this industry fell by 2002 to 2.9 million workers, which represented in 2004 only around three percent of gross domestic product. Here are but a lot of the people registered as farmers only as such to benefit from subsidies; about a quarter go in addition for other activities. Due to the economic reforms, the share of farmers who produced only in self- care, sharply.

Economic structure

Agriculture and mining

Agriculture

The primary sector was until the 19th century the main industry in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was used until the partitions of Poland as the granary of Europe. The agricultural products of the huge goods magnate Klein Poland and Ukraine, with its black soil and loess soils were shipped across the Vistula and Danzig to Western Europe. In the People's Republic of Poland, ten per cent of the arable area belonged to the state. This was a very small percentage compared to the other socialist states. The competition after the political changes of 1989 and the introduction of the market economy could not cope with the state-owned enterprises and were quickly closed. The privately operated farmer farms had to fight for their survival and farmers deemed losers of the transformation process. The Argrarsektor, in 2004, from 2.2 million farms which accounted for 4% of gross domestic product. Nevertheless, in 2007 14.7 % of the workforce were employed in this sector. The EU subsidies in 2004 amounted to per hectare, only 25% of what their counterparts in the old " EU-15 " get. This proportion is expected to rise to 2013 in steps to 100 percent. The export of Argrarprodukte in the European Union rose from 2.6 billion euros in 2003 to about 8.5 billion in 2008. Exports also rose in other countries.

Poland in 2008 was the largest apple producer in the European Union and the second largest producer of rye. Grain production increased in 2004 by 26.7% to 29.6 million tonnes (2000: eur 22.3 million t ) which was mainly due to favorable weather conditions. The total vegetable production increased by 17 % and the agricultural and food exports increased in 2004 compared to 2003 by 30% to 4.9 billion euros. 3.5 billion of which went to the EU. The competition of the large industrialized farms of Western Europe (especially France) many small Polish farmers continue to meet with specialization in organic products, as they are generated Poland in the EU is a leader. According to a study of the Rheinische Friedrich- Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, the "eco- acreage " was expanded within six years of 82 730 ha (2004) to 521 970 ha ( 2010). This corresponds to an increase of 531 %. Almost half of the agricultural production for their own use and is not sold, 80 percent of farms are small and micro enterprises. Leading listed on the stock exchange Polish agricultural processing companies are Wawel, Jutrzenka, Żywiec and Indykpol.

Mining

Poland is through the regions of Silesia since time immemorial, a mining country with tradition. So is not surprising that the largest publicly traded companies are mining companies.

The leading publicly traded mining company / Further processing are PKN Orlen ( with more than 500 service stations ( Orlen and Star petrol stations) in Germany ) and LOTOS (both oil refining and gas station operators ) and KGHM ( Kupfer-/Silberabbau and processing), Kety (aluminum mining and - processing).

Of the European countries (excluding Russia), Poland has a first place at the annual flow rates of copper and silver.

Industry

The industrial sector played the leading role since the end of the 19th century. After 1989, however, he had to leave this to the service sector. Industrial production has shrunk considerably due to the closure of many large industrial enterprises in the 1990s. The existing plants have been modernized and now successfully compete with producers from around the world. The investments in the secondary sector were very high, especially in the 1990s, especially in the automotive and electrical industries. The agricultural machinery specializes in affordable smaller machines. Many foreign companies have in Poland, because of the relatively low cost (wages, non-wage labor costs and taxes) and the high supply of highly skilled workers ( in Poland to study about 2 million people), and not least because of the large sales market of around 40 million inhabitants, more and more consumer- enabled consumers, opened production facilities.

As a leading publicly listed industrial companies are the ceramics manufacturer Cersanit SA and the pharmaceutical company Bioton to name. There are also a number of large former state-owned enterprises that were privatized through an IPO, such as the oil and natural gas company PGNiG. Second largest Polish exporter is the work of Volkswagen AG in Poznan, are produced in the component and trucks.

Services

The service sector dominates the economy since 1989, in Poland and does far more than half of GDP. It is the fastest developing area of the Polish economy. The largest service center is the financial capital and the capital Warsaw, where most companies have their headquarters in the tertiary sector. But the fair city of Poznan and the southern Polish cities Krakow and Wroclaw are important service centers. Last year, the former textile industrial city of Lodz was able to catch these cities due to numerous investment in services. This it owes to its central location and connected to the new network of motorways (A1 from Gdansk to Cieszyn and A2 of Świecko after Terespol ) especially.

Banks and financial services

Among the top 20 exchange company includes the following banks: PKO BP, Bank Pekao SA, Bank BPH, BRE Bank and BZ WBK and the insurance company PZU and the still to be privatized Trägergesellschaft the Warsaw Stock Exchange GPW SA.

Infrastructure and telecommunications

In 1989, about 25 percent of Poland a telephone connection, in 2005 it was 78 percent. 45 percent of the population of Poland in 2004 had a mobile phone, the spread was in the European Union at 80 percent. The only subway Poland is the Warsaw Metro, which was commissioned in 1995. Among the top 20 trading values ​​include the telecommunications company Telekomunikacja Polska and Netia, the IT company Asseco and the corporate media Agora and TVN. One of the great still to be privatized service company include the railway company PKP, the airline LOT and the State Post Polish Post.

Largest companies

Credited headquarters, sales and the industry of the 20 largest Polish companies ( excluding banks and insurance companies). The figures are in millions of euros and refer to the fiscal year 2006.

Capital market

The development of the Polish capital market began in the Middle Ages due to the immigration of merchants from northern Italy and the Netherlands in the guilds of the great commercial cities. So comes the Polish word for Exchange Giełda of Gilda, which corresponded to the Middle High German guild in Middle High Polish. The stock exchange of trade bills and other promissory notes originated around 1300. In the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth, the merchants were certain trade privileges for exchange trading, which may be regarded as the first stock exchange rules. Exchanges existed in Gdansk ( Artus Court ), Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw and Zamość. Since the 18th century, for example, the Warsaw Merchants have logged their two times per week held meetings market. From this time, the first Polish public companies, with the oldest surviving Polish stock is the Kompania manufactory Wełnianych w Warszawie from 1768 come. The first modern Polish stock exchanges were established in 1817 and 1818 in Warsaw and Krakow. Of commerce were bonds and equities. During the Second Republic already passed seven stock exchanges in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Lodz, Katowice, Lviv and Vilnius. With the onset of World War II were all closed by the Germans and the Soviets. Only after 50 years of the Polish capital market in 1989 was again. In 1991, the Warsaw Stock Exchange was rebuilt. In 1996, the trading platform CeTO ( Centralna Tabela Ofert ) was added as a regulated market nichtbörslicher which also has its headquarters in Warsaw.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe and one of the fastest growing in the world. In 2005, it has overtaken the Vienna Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. The capitalization of the Warsaw Stock Exchange is almost 300 billion USD. 2004 took place on the stock market for almost 40 IPOs (IPOs ), which brought her to the London Stock Exchange ranked second in Europe, the IPO of PKO BP with nearly $ 2 billion, was one of the five largest in Europe in 2004. Also, foreign issuers and several foreign brokerage houses since 2004 members of the exchange, such as the MOL, Credit Austria, Skyeurope, Raiffeisen Bank, etc. The total number of listed companies amounted to almost 300

The investing public is divided into three approximately equal parts: Polish private investors, Polish institutional investors and foreign institutional investors ( these are 76 % from the UK, 5% in the U.S., 3% from Italy, 2% from Germany and 1% from France ). Grasped the fastest growth in the share of Polish institutional investors, as a third of the pension contributions of Polish workers on pension funds to meet the capital market. Following the global downturn in the years 2000-02, the GPW held since 2003 in a bull market phase. In the last few months were always new all-time highs of TIG ( Warszawski Indeks Giełdowy - Main Index ) reached and the WIG 20 ( index of 20 large golden shares ). Other indices of the stock exchange are the MIDWIG (medium-sized PLCs ), WIRR (small AGs), TechWIG (technical AGs), WIG -PL (large and medium-sized joint stock companies based in Poland), NIF ( mutual funds ) and the sector indices WIG - Banks, TIG construction, TIG - IT, media TIG, WIG - TIG food and telecommunications.

Tourism

Tourism in Poland is booming, which is partly located at the opening of the Polish air space for low -cost airlines and the gradual development of the motorway network and the other to a rediscovery of Poland by tourists from all over the world. The low compared to other European prices in Poland are likely to play an important role. The pristine nature for tourists on the one hand the cities, on the other hand is very attractive. The former royal city of Krakow is often regarded as the most beautiful city in Poland, she was visited by about 12 million tourists in 2005. The cultural offer in the Polish cities is varied and affordable for the less well-heeled visitors. The pub culture and nightlife are very attractive for young people, particularly in the major university cities Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Poznan. There are 13 World Heritage sites by UNESCO in Poland. Also the medical tourism ( Dental, Cosmetic Surgery ) has greatly increased.

Many cities that were destroyed in World War II were built by the Polish restorers exemplary again. These mainly include Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk.

Recreational areas and resorts can be found in the south and the north of Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, West Pomerania, Pomerania, Kujawy, Lesser Poland, Subcarpathian and Lower Silesia. Water can be seen on the Baltic Sea, the lake districts and some mountain rivers, especially Dunajec, San, Poprad, operate Bóbr and their reservoirs. The mountain regions Tatry, Beskydy, Cracow - Częstochowa Upland, Holy Cross Mountains, Sudetes with the Giant Mountains in the first place invite to skiing and hiking holidays. As the winter sports capital of Poland Zakopane applies. Many attractive natural resources are protected in 23 national parks.