Poland among the leading EU countries. Here is the European Commission’s forecast

Poland is among the leading countries with economic growth. The European Commission’s winter forecasts show that the Polish economy will grow at a rate of 2.7 percent, and next year Poland’s GDP will increase by 3.2 percent. This is the same as Brussels forecast in November. However, last year’s growth was slightly lower than forecast and amounted to 0.2%.

European Commission: Next year Poland will be in third place in the EU

This year, Poland will take 4th place in the EU in terms of economic growth, behind Malta, Romania and Cyprus. Next year, however, it will jump on the podium and, together with Estonia, Ireland and Romania, it will take 3rd place. Malta remains in first place, and Hungary is in second place. Private consumption is to be the main driver of growth, along with rising real wages, additional government social support and decreasing inflation – wrote European Commission experts in their analysis of Poland. They added that rising domestic demand will drive imports. Investments are to be hampered by a slower start to use funds from the current EU budget. So far, Poland has used money from the previous financial perspective.

The European Commission also released inflation data today. It will be almost half lower in Poland compared to last year, but it will still be one of the highest in the EU. This year it will be 5.2 percent, higher only in Romania. Next year, inflation in Poland will drop to 4.7 percent, but it will still be the fastest price increase in the European Union.

Eurozone economy’s resilience ‘seriously tested’

As for the winter forecasts for the entire Community, they are more pessimistic than the autumn ones. According to the Commission, Community GDP growth this year will be 0.9 percent. This is 0.4 percentage points less than November’s estimates, while the economy in the euro zone will grow at a rate of 0.8 percent. This is also 0.4 percentage points less than Brussels predicted in November.

The European economy has left behind an extremely difficult year in which a combination of factors seriously tested its resilience

– commented Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni. He added that although the rebound this year will be more modest, it will gradually gain momentum thanks to slower price growth and rising real wages, as well as a strong labor market.

In turn, inflation is expected to fall faster. In the EU it will fall to 3 percent this year, and next year it is expected to be even 0.5 percentage point lower. In the Eurozone, inflation will fall to 2.7 percent this year and to 2.2 percent next year. The Commission noted that all forecasts are subject to high uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions and the many key elections around the world this year.