18:43 16 August 2020
Highest decline in GDP in Poland since 1989: statistical office
According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), Poland's GDP fell by 8.2 percent in the second quarter of 2020. This is a bit better than expected, but it is still the biggest drop of this indicator since 1989.
The significant decline in GDP in the second quarter is, according to PKO BP economists, a reflection of the deepest decline in economic activity in the modern history of Poland caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
Classical consolation: others have it worse. In the same period, the GDP of other countries in the region fell by more than 10 percent. In Romania, the decrease was 10.5 percent, in Slovakia – 12.1 percent, and in Hungary – 13.6 percent.
In the previous quarter, Poland managed to maintain the upward trend – GDP then increased by 2 percent y/y, mainly due to the increase in consumption. Even then, however, it was predicted that the biggest collapse would occur in the second quarter of this year.
"The data published today are of a historical nature, as the economy is currently in a phase of recovery, which is dynamic in some areas," Bank Millennium economists noted in turn.
