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Poland now 6th-largest EU economy, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium
- lapkaaaa 2mo agoHow much money did they get from EU in last 5 years? Combine that with a lot of ukrainian migrants that actually work and open businesses you get this
- imdsm 2mo agoThey're probably focusing on people who work rather than trying to tax people who work and innovate to pay for people who don't work or innovate. Strangely, focusing on economics is good for economies
- greenavocado 2mo ago[flagged]
- nozzlegear 2mo agoIs this a weird European version of the "lazy Mexicans" stereotype?
- Dig1t 2mo ago[dead]
- s1artibartfast 2mo agoEvery economic study shows that the background of immigrants matter. Least controversial is considerations for their education and human development.
- sph 2mo agoWho said he's European? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48961083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48961083 But unsurprisingly he's got strong opinions about the people in our continent.
- AlexeyBelov 2mo agoAnother one of "those accounts", that are mysteriously never banned.
- tremon 2mo agoIndeed, this is a great example of how the EU manages to grow its internal market.
- dinfinity 2mo ago> How much money did they get from EU in last 5 years? A lot. About 1 percentage point of Polish GDP in 2025. They also had a lot of government spending, with the 2025 budget deficit being 7% of GDP. Minimum wage was raised with ~10% in January 2025. There is an irony in people attributing it to conservatism/rightwing politics rather than pretty much the exact opposite. Spain is another example of economic growth in the EU.
- gfrecvh 2mo agoGood investment.
- tpm 2mo agoWhy just in the last 5 years? They got a lot of money from the EU since 2004. And that's fine, because the EU also profitted from their membership. All relatively poorer EU countries are net receivers, but not all of them are able to use that money effectively, at least some because of huge corruption. So good for Poland they've been able to invest that money into good causes.
- dmitrygr 2mo agoNot surprising at all. Sane government that’s been focusing on what Poland needs above what anyone else demands.
- ramino 2mo agoLol Switzerland isn’t in the EU.
- andyjohnson0 2mo agoIt isn't an EU member but it is part of the EU single market.
- flowerthoughts 2mo agoBarely. There are import duties on everything. Seems the old agreements that expired were hard to replace. At least they got the academic research funding sorted last year. Part of EEA and Schengen, but those are not the EU.
- 1313ed01 2mo agoI wonder if the title was meant to say Sweden, as the text mentions Sweden and Belgium? The map at the bottom correctly excludes Switzerland. It does however include Norway and Iceland.
- stephenhuey 2mo agoProbably so, since the article text does not even mention Switzerland at all! And from what I can find, Poland is ahead of Sweden but not Switzerland (currently neck and neck with Switzerland).
- rsynnott 2mo agoYeah, it's a bit confused. The map shows the EEA, not the EU.
- troupo 2mo agoTechnically correct. However, it's so closely aligned with and integrated into the EU that it's quite convenient to include it in comparisons. Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (EEA), and Switzerland ("Special Relationship") are basically EU in all but final official membership. They even contribute to the EU financially. But it does look that they probably meant Sweden (according to the text of the article)
- petcat 2mo agoI saw an interesting stat recently that the poorest USA state, Mississippi, has a larger economy and GDP than 1/3rd of all EU members. It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy and I wonder if that's where a lot of the discontent comes from. It seems like there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole.
- notfromhere 2mo agoThat example is a good reason nominal GDP has limits on what it can measure, as a drive thru Mississippi would show a poor state with small pockets of wealth
- mmooss 2mo ago> there a lot of micro-nations in eastern Europe that have outsized influence over the union as a whole Would you give an example of when that has happened? > It just seems like the EU is too top-heavy The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others. > discontent What discontent do you mean? There's always something, of course.
- inglor_cz 2mo ago> The EU intentionally admitted many poorer countries, to promote freedom, security and stability in Europe in the long term. Without EU membership, they would be under pressure from Russia and others. This is a bit of a non-sequitur, at least as far as Eurozone's anemic growth is concerned. France and Germany stagnating isn't caused by Poland or Romania growing. It is mostly their own internal systemic problems. There were times when German and Polish economies were both healthy, as little as 10 years ago. Sweden, another rich EU member, should grow by healthy 2.2 per cent this year, but Sweden is a lot more willing to actually reform its way out of problems than Germany is. Smaller countries have less inertia in such situations, and more maneuvering space.
- mmooss 2mo ago
- dzonga 2mo agoPoland has made a lot of good moves lately. for techies in the UK/US they might not care that much - but there's also an effect on you. in the U.K - a polish skilled workers are choosing to remaining in Poland instead of moving to the uk. for the US - a lot of firms are setting up polish offices - hence when you hear 'a.i' efficiency most of those jobs have moved to Poland or India. Whether it's big tech, big banks and small funded VC startups. What remains in the US are just senior+, staff software engineers.
- elAhmo 2mo agoThis is not viable long term, but cool to ride the train while the outsourcing lasts.
- penchant 2mo agoI don't get the hype around nominal GDP at all – looks great, but tells you little to none about the actual living conditions. Living in Poland, I don't feel richer than an average Belgian person (and I've had contact with many of them across the years).
- aenis 2mo agoPolish living standard in major metro areas are significantly above Belgian standards. I lived in Poland and Belgium, among a few other places, and I'd choose Poland over Belgium for a number of reasons. Its a great country, good infra, excellent engineers, high education standards, you can talk to anyone in English, the government usually does work, and if you want an appointment with a specialist doctor, it takes a few days tops (on a private insurance, which is cheap by most countries' standards).
- ttoinou 2mo agoDid your change of choice happenned right when the GDP of Poland went above the GDP Belgium ?
- TMWNN 2mo ago>Polish living standard in major metro areas are significantly above Belgian standards. I presume there is no Polish equivalent to Midi train station and its "corridor of evil". <https://newsinfrance.com/in-belgium-the-brussels-midi-station-undermined-by-insecurity-and-insalubrity/ https://newsinfrance.com/in-belgium-the-brussels-midi-statio...>
- pseudohadamard 2mo agoBeen to Poland a few times and it's pretty decent, everything as you say and unlike their immediate western neighbour their trains work too. It's a pretty nice place. Now if only they didn't have a language that's made up mostly of WiFi passwords...
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- cynicalsecurity 2mo agoGreat news, but could we have a higher GDP per capita, please? That's the most important part, isn't it?
- cbeach 2mo agoThey deserve it. I'm in the UK. The smartest developers I worked with in my ~20 year career were all Polish. The hardest-working and most skilled tradespeople that worked on my houses were Polish.
- rmason 2mo agoI spent some time in Poland three years ago and have not stopped talking about it ever since. It stood out from the other Eastern European countries that I visited on that trip. Had a lunch in Warsaw with a German friend who had relocated there. He said it was more Conservative than Germany and there was more freedom of expression. Over forty years of Communist rule and they were never able to pull them away from their commitment to the Catholic church. Also lots of excellent museums and large parks.
- simmerup 2mo agoThere’s a reason the solidarity movement arose in Poland Remarkable culture
- pjc50 2mo agoIt would be good to have real insights into how Poland is doing well just now, but (gestures at thread) it seems to be a lot of people bringing out their pet solutions. Is the boom related to the removal of PiS in 2023? Is it linked to Ukraine (businesses and people relocating across the border? Arms sales?)
- nxm 2mo agoNo it’s not related to removal of PiS at all. Poland’s economy was booming under PiS
- ManuelKiessling 2mo agoDid it stop booming afterwards?
- ManuelKiessling 2mo agoWouldn’t „more freedom of expression“ imply less conservative? Or what aspects of conservatism, and what aspects of freedom of expression, are you referring to here?
- imdsm 2mo ago
- veridico 2mo ago[flagged]
- moritzwarhier 2mo agoPoland has earned this. Reputation of Poland is amazing. And the people I've had the luck of meeting at a very early age during a student exchange lived up to that. Poland is an indispensable pillar of the EU, and integrates countries such as UK, Italy, Germany, Greece, Austria, Romania, and many more countries in the east (I just don't want to list all of them here, because it's a slippery slope). And Poland as a society has gone through a hard struggle to earn their very own power, stance and leverage.
- Levitz 2mo agoNot to remove any merit from Poland, but I think the EU deserves a bit of recognition here.
- everfrustrated 2mo agoBest thing Poland did was not join the Euro
- moritzwarhier 2mo agoI think you're onto something here.
- moritzwarhier 2mo agoDefinitely. I don't know what was the umbrella term, but I did participate in a student exchange program in the early 2000s, as a teeanger myself. I doubt I'd have gotten to visit Poland without the EU so far (I'm not a frequent traveler...). And Poland has, even when they had a government being at odds with the EU, never acted in some openly destructive way inside the EU. They always made clear what they want to be a part of, and what they don't want, and then, honestly followed through. Not having the Euro or being more conservative is completely fine, as long as basic human rights aren't violated in a comparatively excessive way, and my impression of Poland and Polish people has always been a very friendly one. I was in Łódź at the time, and there was a well thought-out program to connect the students, who were quite disconnected in the early 2000s, and had wildly different living situations + language barriers between each pair of students were also very diverse. Credit to the EU for funding such a program is very much appropriate.
- cloudie78 2mo agoGDP is a scam and a shit metric. Natural disasters increase GDP and so does pollution because of the money spent cleaning it up. Poland also has 4x the population of Switzerland. Normalise the GDP and then let’s start having a conversation. Look at the PPP.
- woodpanel 2mo agoHeise.de, German IT and developer news portal, recently posted a story for German software devs about how to become an expat in Poland. What a shift in tonality for German media: From Polish handymen continuosly voting in right-wing "democracy-abandoning" parties to … somehow … doing better than Germany, economically (in terms of growth and outlook).
- comrade1234 2mo agoI live in Switzerland and have worked in projects in Poland. It's obvious which country is wealthier.
- jswelker 2mo agoTruly Poland stronk.
- vivzkestrel 2mo ago- i came expecting to read something about how taking no immigrants has helped or something along those lines - has there been any studies conducted on how 10% immigration affects a country's economic outcomes?
- profstasiak 2mo agoBut its not true! We had like massivie migration in last few years, mostly Ukrainian though