EUWorkers diversified economy reduces vulnerability to external shocks. Foreign investors cite the country’s well-educated work force and tariff-free access to EU markets as major draws. The government is focused on developing high-tech investments and increasing productivity, as well as fostering entrepreneurship, scientific research, and infrastructure.

Despite an increasingly polarized political environment, Poland’s broader structures remain sound and the economy continues to attract foreign investment. Investors say the government has made progress in simplifying administrative processes for businesses, but they cite uncertainty and the outsized role of state-owned and controlled companies as impediments to long-term balanced growth.

Navigating Price Variations: How Interim Services Rates Differ Across Poland

The government has faced criticism for artificially lowering consumer prices, particularly on fuel and medicines, to allow the central bank to make a crowd-pleasing interest rate cut ahead of elections on October 15. It has also been accused of pushing back asylum seekers and other migrants to Belarus, where they face the risk of torture or other prohibited ill-treatment, in breach of multiple EU and human rights obligations.

Ethnic and religious minorities have full political rights, though government officials and media allies frequently use homophobic rhetoric to undermine the country’s reputation as a welcoming place for LGBT+ people. In practice, however, minority groups are fairly well represented in politics, and the freely elected head of state and national legislative representatives determine policies without interference from the executive branch or public-sector unions. Public media promote government messages and seek to discredit the opposition, in violation of statutory requirements for impartiality.