In the first quarter of 2018, Europe’s gross domestic product grew by 2.2% compared to the same period of the last year. You may be surprised to discover that the credit for the fastest growing economy doesn’t belong to any of the leading countries of Europe such as Germany or France. It’s Poland that managed to achieve the highest increase in GDP across Europe.

‘China of Europe’: How Poland became prosperous

The Polish economy is considered to be a true phenomenon. Europeans call this state the ‘China of Europe’ for its rapid and impressive advancements.

The dynamic development in Poland didn’t come to a halt even during the years of the global economic crisis.

At the end of the last century, Poland experienced a continuous decline in GDP in comparison to other European countries. The state’s government began strategic development of the economy only after joining the European Union in 2004. It is through carefully orchestrated efforts that Polish economy manage to record this remarkable growth rate – the economy has expanded by 19% since then, which is higher than average indicators across Europe.

Now, according to the European Office of Statistics, Poland has achieved the most forward-looking economy with the real GDP growth at 5%, Finance.ua reported.

One of the resources that allowed Poland to achieve this growth was a large number of labor migrants, Polish experts admitted.

In a great majority those were Ukrainian migrants that contributed to the development of the economy in recent years. In 2016-2018, 90% of requests for a resident permit were granted to citizens of Ukraine.

“The majority of them work as domestic helpers, farmers or ancillary construction workers. They learn the language on their own and work in good faith. It would be an economic disaster if it wasn’t for them,” stated Caesar Kazmierzcak, the chairman Polish Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers.

Ukrainian citizens experience low wages, political instability, expensive US dollar vs. weak local currency, and high rates of unemployment in their homeland. This is why many citizens of the largest country of the European continent decide to seek a job in one of the richest countries it borders, Poland. Every minute 2 Ukrainians leave the country in search of jobs abroad, experts state, and the fastest growing economy of Europe welcomes them with open hands.

In total, around 1 million Ukrainians moved to Poland over the last 3 years. Ukrainians became #1 buyers of real estate in Poland as well, investing their earnings into a stable economy with the hope to move there permanently, as opposed to bringing the money home. This, too, gives a boost to Polish economical growth.

Economic situation in other European countries

Speaking about the GDP percentage, Hungary is the second fastest growing economy in Europe (4.4%). Lithuania and Romania have are growing at the speed of 4.2% each. The Republic of Cyprus’ gross domestic product grew by 3.9% — so did GDP of Slovakia. Latvia’s rate is almost as high – 3.7%. Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom of Great Britain have similar GDP rates compared to 2017 – 1.1%, 1.3%, and 1.3%, respectively.

Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta, and Slovenia haven’t provided Eurostat with the relevant information about their economics.

Featured photo: Krakow, Poland.

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