21:27 4 November 2019
Poland’s poor regions not catching up with rich ones
An analysis of changes in the Human Development Index (HDI) over the past 27 years shows that the gap between the poorest and the richest regions of Poland is getting wider.
If we analyze the development of the HDI in Poland between 1990 and 2017 (latest available data) at the level of provinces, it turns out that the Mazowieckie voivodship, which in 1990 was definitely beyond the reach of the other voivodships, increased its lead over almost all of them over the last three decades.
Only Lower Silesia developed slightly faster than Mazowieckie and thanks to this it jumped onto the podium, from which it knocked off the Wielkopolskie voivodship. The Małopolskie voivodship holds a stable second place, although Lower Silesia has come close and it is possible that it will “attack” the second position in the near future. The next few places (unchanged compared to 1990) are occupied by the Pomorskie voivodship (5th place), Silesia (6th place) and Łódzkie voivodship (7th place).
The HDI is considered as one of the most valuable measures of socio-economic development. Research institutions, including UN agencies, use it on a massive scale in their research.
