Gray market accounts for 15% of Poland's GDP, threatens tax revenues

The gray market accounted for approximately 15% of Poland's GDP last year, according to the Central Statistical Office (GUS). The gray economy, that part of the market that straddles the line between legal and illegal e conomic activities, had a value of zl. 108 billion last year, while the GDP was around zl. 722.3 billion. This year State Treasury losses from gray market operations are expected to exceed the more than zl. 10 billion in lost taxes last year. It is expected that the gray sector will increase with the rise in unemployment. According to the most recent detailed research carried out by the GUS, Poland had over 1.4 million people working illegally in 1998. These numbers are expected to be much higher today, taking into consideration the 3.2 million unemployed, compared to 1.8 million registered unemployed in 1998. According to the GUS, most gray market products are made by registered companies and the lion's share of the gray market comes from trade, the construction industry and general industry. (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp. 1, 9) P.W.