Poland: A Nation of Steady Growth
Poland was the only EU nation to avoid recession during the financial crisis and despite a slowdown in 2012-2013 it continues to thrive with the IMF forecasting GDP growth of 3.5 percent for 2015, versus 1.5 percent for the Euro area.
Poland’s relative economic strength is most apparent by its container flows. While containerized trade from Asia to Europe has recently slowed – down 3 percent in the first four months of this year. Poland is registering slight increases. It’s container imports from Asia have significantly outpaced the rest of North Europe in recent years with 12 percent growth (between 2009-2014) which more than twice the rate of the rest of the region.
Poland’s containerized trade is still one-fifth the size as Germany’s, North Europe’s biggest market for Asian goods, but its rapid growth from approximately 3.2 percent in 2009 to 4.4 percent for the year-to-date in 2015 is certainly worth noting.
Poland’s economy is well positioned to outpace the rest of the EU. Its economy has made significant gains and while its unemployment rate has declined, it still remains at around 8 percent it still has room for growth and a need to invest in its soft and hard infrastructure to take the next evolutionary step.
