According to the latest data from the World Bank, Poland’s GDP per capita could exceed that of the United Kingdom in five years. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised to achieve this goal on Wednesday (May 1), the 20th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the European Union.
The Polish prime minister, who was president of the European Council when Britons voted to leave the EU in a close referendum, said on X on Wednesday: “And I promise: by the 25th anniversary, the Poles will be richer than the British. It’s better to be in the European Union. »
At the time of the Brexit referendum, Mr. Tusk became a fairly popular figure in the United Kingdom and was portrayed as an antagonist of the then Prime Minister, Theresa May, who struggled to find consensus between the arguments of Brussels and the demands of the domestic political scene.
A year ago, British Labor Party analysts warned that if current trends continued, the UK’s GDP per capita would be around $600 less than Poland’s by 2030.
The UK was lagging behind while its European neighbors were getting richer, both in the east and in countries like France and Germany, party leader Keir Starmer claimed at the time.
At the time, Mr Starmer cited World Bank data showing that average economic growth between 2010 and 2021 would be 0.5% for the UK and 3.6% for Poland. The GDP per capita of the two countries would be 45,000 dollars (42,000 euros) and 35,000 dollars (33,000 euros) respectively.
Since joining the European Union in 2004, Poland’s GDP has doubled, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
According to the Polish Institute of Economics (PIE), the country’s GDP is 40% higher than it would be if Poland were not a member of the EU.
Poland’s GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power parity will reach 99.6% of the EU average in 2033, according to estimates by Crédit Agricole Bank Polska.
In 2004, it reached only 51.5%, the third lowest level in the EU.
