Poland GDP among regional lowest
Polands gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2001s first quarter was the second lowest among the 12 countries negotiating to become European Union members, according to a report released last week by Eurostat.
At 2.3% GDP growth for the quarter, Polands economy performed better than Maltas but worse than any of the other 10 countries in an advanced state of accession negotiations, the report said. Overall, however, the region is feeling the effect of a slowing world economy.
A general contraction of growth was evident as seven of the 12 (candidate countries) for whom quarterly data are published recorded lower rates than in the final quarter of 2000, the report said.
The combined quarterly growth rate was 3.3% for the quarter, not counting Malta because the countrys data is not fully comparable with other candidate countries or Cyprus because it did not report quarterly data. Latvia had the highest growth rate at 8.2%, followed by Estonia (5.8%), Romania (4.8%), Bulgaria (4.5%), Hungary (4.4%), Lithuania (4.4%), the Czech Republic (3.8%), Slovenia (3.1%) and Slovakia (3%).
While slowing, Polands economy is by far the largest among candidates. At E171 billion in 2000, its GDP was greater than the combined figure for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia the next four largest economies. All candidate countries combined have a GDP equal to 7.3% of the EUs total in euro terms.
