Poland is gradually catching up with the richest economies, but the GDP per capita is still much lower than the regional average, amounting to 72 percent of the EU average, as informs the Central Statistical Office (GUS) in the publication "Poland on the path of sustainable development Report 2020".

As the GUS noted in the publication, Poland is one of the countries that have been melted and are catching up with the distance between them and the richest EU economies. Since 2010, the gross domestic product of the country has increased in real terms by 38 percent, while the GDP of the entire EU has increased by less than 15 percent. The value of GDP per capita of Poland (in PPS, purchasing power standard) is still much lower than the average in the region and amounts to 72 percent of average for the EU, as mentioned.

"This difference, however, is much smaller than in 2010, when GDP per capita in the country was 62 percent of the average EU value. The increase in labor productivity is also a positive trend – in relation to 2010 in Poland it increased in real terms by 29 percent (compared to an increase by 7 percent on average in the EU) and nominal amounts to almost 80 percent of the average in the region (compared to 70 percent at the beginning of the decade)," the study reads.

The GUS pointed out that economic growth in Poland is stimulated by investments to a lesser extent than in many other EU countries. Gross fixed capital formation in the last few years in Poland oscillates around 18 percent of GDP, while the EU average is slightly above 20 percent.

"The investment rate of enterprises is relatively low – for years it has remained at the level of 10 percent in the country compared to 12 percent on average in the region. The scale of investments of the government sector in Poland, however, is greater than in many other countries, with an annual expenditure of 4-5 percent of GDP, while the EU average is 3 percent of GDP," the GUS explained.

(PAP)