Environmental outlays in Poland growing but decreasing
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Although in recent years the expenditure on environmental protection in Poland has been growing in absolute numbers, we spend less and less on this purpose in relation to GDP.
Expenditure on environmental protection is the sum of investment expenditure and costs incurred for activities related to environmental protection, reduction of pollution, or repair of environmental damage.
The most important sources of financing environmental protection in Poland are the central budget, budgets of local governments, own resources of economic entities and households, funds, banks, and foreign financial resources. In 2019, the amount of environmental protection expenditure in Poland amounted to just over PLN 65 billion. Thus, it was at a similar level as in 2018. In total, expenditure on environmental protection in 2019 per capita amounted to PLN 1,704. In 2018, they were not much higher and amounted to PLN 1,726.
The amount of PLN 65 billion in relation to the Gross Domestic Product was 2.9 percent. This is more than the average for the European Union countries of approx. 2 percent. However, while on average in the European Union, the share of environmental expenditure in GDP remains stable, in Poland it has decreased in recent years.
According to data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS) in 2000, Poland spent about 48 billion for this purpose. It accounted for 4.4 percent of GDP. Five years later, about 39 billion on the environment already accounted for 3.1 percent of GDP. In 2015, the share of these expenses in relation to GDP was the lowest. PLN 45 billion spent on the environment at that time accounted for 2.4 percent of GDP.
