Poland’s Foreign Economic Relations

Poland’s economic situation in 2017 was very good. This was mainly due to the favourable economic situation in the world economy, including Poland’s most important trade partners. The result was a considerable acceleration of the export growth rate as compared to 2016. The situation on the labour market was systematically improving, which, together with elements of the government’s economic policy (especially social expenditure), contributed to the increase in consumption, one of the main drivers of the economy in 2017. Public finances also improved significantly, thanks to higher budget revenues linked to growing domestic consumption, a favourable international environment and the tightening of the tax system. However, the low level of investment expenditure remained a challenge both in the public sector (which included delays in the implementation of EU-funded projects) and in the private sector. Moreover, despite the dynamically developing economy and solid macroeconomic foundations, in 2017 the dynamics of the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) to Poland declined, being a result of, among others, disinvestments, including the reduction of capital shares in Polish enterprises.