Economy - overview Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalizing the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open transition economies. GDP growth had been strong and steady in 1993-2000 but fell back in 2001 with slowdowns in domestic investment and consumption and the weakening in the global economy. The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of a vibrant private sector. In contrast, Poland's large agricultural sector remains handicapped by structural problems, surplus labor, inefficient small farms, and lack of investment. Restructuring and privatization of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and energy) has begun. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger than expected fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on privatization of Poland's remaining state sector. The government's determination to enter the EU as soon as possible affects most aspects of its economic policies. Improving Poland's outsized current account deficit and reining in inflation are priorities. Warsaw leads the region in foreign investment and needs a continued large inflow.

GDP purchasing power parity - $339.6 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 1.5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $8,800 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32%
services: 64% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line 18.4% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 24.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 32.7 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force 17.6 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation industry 22.1%, agriculture 27.5%, services 50.4% (1999)

Unemployment rate 16.7% (2001 est.)

Budget
revenues: $49.6 billion
expenditures: $52.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

Industries machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles

Industrial production growth rate 4.3% (1999)

Electricity - production 135.161 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 98.1%
hydro: 1.54%
other: 0.36% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 119.327 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 9.663 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 3.29 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork

Exports $30.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities machinery and transport equipment 30.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 25.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 20.9%, food and live animals 8.5% (1999)

Exports - partners Germany 34.9%, Italy 6.3%, France 5.2%, Netherlands 5.1%, UK 4.5%, Czech Republic 3.8% (2000)

Imports $41.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities machinery and transport equipment 38.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999)

Imports - partners Germany 23.9%, Russia 9.4%, Italy 8.3%, France 6.4%, UK 4.5%, US 4.4% (2000)

Debt - external $57 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient $NA

Currency zloty (PLN)

Currency code PLN

Exchange rates zlotych per US dollar - 4.0144 (December 2001), 4.0939 (2001), 4.3461 (2000), 3.9671 (1999), 3.4754 (1998), 3.2793 (1997)
note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Poland on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Poland Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Poland Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.