English Section

Polish economy shrinks 1.5% in Q3 2020: stats office

30.11.2020 11:05
The Polish economy contracted 1.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, the country’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) said on Monday in an updated estimate.
Pixabay License
Pixabay LicenseImage by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The reading was slightly lower than a flash estimate of 1.6 percent issued by the office earlier this month.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, investment decreased by 9 percent and domestic demand fell by 3.2 percent in Poland in the third quarter of 2020, the Central Statistical Office reported.

Poland's gross domestic product contracted 8.4 percent in the second quarter of this year, after posting 2 percent growth in the first three months of 2020, according to the state-run statistics agency.

The Polish economy expanded by 4.5 percent in 2019 as a whole, after registering 5.3 percent growth in 2018, according to the Central Statistical Office.

Poland’s central bank this month updated its GDP growth forecasts for the country, saying it expected the economy to contract by 3.5 percent this year, followed by 3.1 percent growth in 2021.

The International Monetary Fund forecast last month that the Polish economy would shrink 3.6 percent in 2020, but then rebound to expand by 4.6 percent in 2021.

Under budget plans approved this autumn, the Polish government expects the country’s GDP to shrink 4.6 percent this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and grow 4 percent next year.

(gs)

Source: PAP