Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland is this year becoming one of 20 largest economies in the world, according to new figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The development marks a significant symbolic moment for a country that has seen its economy grow rapidly since shaking off communism 35 years ago. It has also prompted Poland to seek to join the G20 group of major world economies.
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF estimates that Poland’s GDP will reach $1.04 trillion this year. That means that it will overtake Switzerland ($1.00 trillion) to become the world’s 20th largest economy.
The IMF’s forecasts for future years indicate that Poland’s GDP will continue to grow faster than Switzerland’s until 2030.
However, the data also show that the two countries just above Poland in the ranking – Saudi Arabia ($1.27 trillion) in 19th and the Netherlands ($1.32 trillion) in 18th – will remain ahead in the coming years.
The world’s largest economies are the United States ($30.62 trillion), China ($19.40 trillion), and Germany ($5.01 trillion), Poland’s western neighbour and biggest trading partner.
Poland’s rise over the past 35 years since emerging from communism has been rapid. In 1990, it was the world’s 38th largest economy, according to the IMF, ranking just below Pakistan and Algeria. By the year 2000, Poland had risen to 27th, and by 2010, to 25th.
Last month, when economic data already indicated that Poland’s economy had surpassed $1 trillion and was set to become the world’s 20th largest, foreign minister Radosław Sikorski announced that, during a visit to the US, he had discussed the possibility of Poland joining the G20 club of major world economies.
“Due to the fact that Poland has joined the so-called club of trillion-dollar economies, I tried to convince the United States, which will hold the presidency of the G20 group next year, to invite us to this group,” said Sikorski.
“We have the right to do this not only as one of the 20 largest economies in the world, but also as a country that presents a political and intellectual argument, because we are the country that has successfully transformed from a planned economy to a free economy,” he added.
Main image credit: DWD2007/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
