Poland is biggest economic beneficiary of EU from post-2004 entrants: report
7622 Mins Read
Poland was the biggest beneficiary of EU membership among all countries in the region that joined the Community in 2004 and beyond. Between 2004 and 2022, the country’s GDP doubled, a Bank Pekao report indicated.
The Bank Pekao report titled “20 Years of Poland in the European Union from the Perspective of Businesses and Economic Sectors” says that a number of indicators and economic aggregates prove that Poland was the biggest beneficiary of EU membership among all countries in the region that joined the Community in 2004 and later years.
Przy okazji raportu z okazji 20-lecia 🇵🇱 w 🇪🇺 przyglądnęliśmy się również nieco bliżej inwestycjom i postępom w zakresie innowacyjności. Od akcesji byliśmy także jednym z krajów regionu o najsilniejszym wzroście inwestycji w przetwórstwie przemysłowym. pic.twitter.com/H31ZQwxztR
“In the entire EU, only Malta and Ireland, which applies tax preferences for global corporations, recorded faster growth during this period. Far behind Poland in terms of economic growth rate, moreover, ranked other new member countries from our region; for example, the economies of the Czech Republic and Hungary grew by only about half during this period,” the report highlighted.
Pekao notes that between 2004 and 2022, Malta’s GDP rose by almost 200% while Ireland’s grew by 185%.
According to the bank’s representatives, the last 20 years have been a period of very dynamic development, especially in certain service industries, such as information and communications or business services for companies, which have seen their added value increase several times.
One of the areas with the fastest growth was also industrial processing, which recorded nearly threefold growth.
They pointed out that Poland was also among the EU countries with the strongest growth in manufacturing expenditures. They added that in an overwhelming number of industrial sectors, foreign-owned companies were the driving force behind investments.
“Poland scored the strongest advancement in the EU classification of exporters. All countries in the region gained from accession as suppliers in regional supply chains, but Poland was the biggest beneficiary of the European industry relocation process.”
Bank Pekao analysts said that Poland will remain one of the largest beneficiaries of EU funds in the coming years, which will be further strengthened by the fact that money from the National Reconstruction Plan has been unlocked. The total amount of funds allocated to Poland in the EU’s 2021–2027 perspective is about EUR 170 billion.
