Analysts from the CASE Center for Social and Economic Analysis in their latest report point out that in the last 30 years, Poland has made a huge leap in development. Experts emphasize, however, that since 2015 the investment rate in Poland has been gradually decreasing, and in 2019 and 2020 it was almost 1/3 lower than in neighboring countries. The main reason is a drop in private investment.

According to the CASE report, investments in buildings and infrastructure in Poland over the past decades accounted for 70% of total investment. For comparison, the EU average is 43%. The level of investments in telecommunications and IT equipment as well as intangible assets (e.g. patents, property rights and computer software) was low. This may cause Poland’s economic development potential to decline in the future.

Dr Jan Hagemejer from the University of Warsaw, vice president of CASE explains that investments are the factor that creates capital. They can help restore the capital that was used in previous years or create a new one, allowing to increase production in the coming years. The CASE report shows that it was the increase in capital that had contributed to more than half of Poland’s economic growth in the last 30 years of transformation, with a small share of changes in the labor force and very high importance of productivity growth. It is expected that those factors, in particular the increase in productivity, will also be equally important in the future.

In the opinion of the vice president of CASE, Poland should improve the investment climate in the coming years and invest much more in innovation and modern technologies.

Adrian Andrzejewski