Foreign direct investment accounted for as much as 3.7 % of Poland’s Gross Domestic Product in 2020-2022. “Only Chile and Hungary had a higher indicator in the world”, reports the Polish Economic Institute (PIE).

“Poland is successfully attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Between 2020 and 2022, the inflow averaged 3.7 % of GDP. We estimate that in 2023, the investment volume will increase to around 3.9 %, and good results will also be visible in the current year”, says the PIE report. This is important, as foreign investors who become directly involved usually stay for longer and contribute to the foundations of the economy’s growth.

At the same time, the report indicates that the structure of the index is improving. Debt instruments are playing a smaller role, while investments in the capital of companies, i.e. shares and equities, are gaining in importance.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, between 2020 and 2022, FDI worth around 3.7 % of GDP flowed into Poland. This is more than most countries in our region such as the Czech Republic (3.5 %), Romania (3.0 %) or Slovakia (0.1 %). Only Hungary (4.6 %) recorded a better result than us in Europe, mainly due to the aggressive attraction of Chinese investments in the area of electromobility.

Poland’s score was also better than many developing countries from other regions of the world listed as ‘dynamically developing’. Globally, we were overtaken by Hungary and Chile.

“Estimates for 2023 suggest a continued solid performance. Monthly balance of payments statistics from the National Bank of Poland (NBP) show that in the first 10 months of 2023, FDI worth PLN 113 billion flowed into Poland. “Data for November and December are not yet available, but maintaining the current trend suggests that the entire year could close with an inflow of around PLN 133 bln – such a result would mean a foreign investment inflow worth 3.9 % of GDP”, estimated economists, with the reservation that the NBP’s final figures may differ slightly.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński