Xifres de comerç exterior de Polònia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Poland is open to international trade, which represents 105.6% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available). The geographical location gives Poland strategic importance: the country is in fact situated halfway between Paris and Moscow and between Stockholm and Budapest, and it has important ports that are connected to the North Sea through the Baltic Sea. In addition, the country constitutes an excellent place for the export of merchandise to the former Soviet republics. The country mainly exports parts of motor vehicles, automatic data-processing machines, seats, furniture, and electric accumulators; importing motor cars, petroleum oils, parts of vehicles, phones and medicaments.

In 2020, the main trading partners were Germany (28.9%), the Czech Republic (5.9%), the United Kingdom (5.7%) and France (5.6%); while the top import origins were Germany (21.9%), China (14.4%), Italy (5%), and Russia (4.5% - data Comtrade). Overall, the EU accounts for 74% of Poland’s total exports and 55.4% of its imports (data Statistics Poland).

Since Poland became a member of the European Union, its exports have increased by more than 30%. The country historically had a structurally negative trade balance; nevertheless, since 2013 this trend has reversed: when computing both goods and services, in 2020 Poland had a positive trade balance estimated at 6.8% of its GDP (was 4.7% one year earlier - World Bank). According to data from WTO, in 2020 the country exported USD 271 billion worth of goods (-1.6% year-on-year), whereas imports stood at USD 257.1 billion (-3% y-o-y), showing Poland’s external trade resilience amid the global Covid-19-induced crisis. Concerning services, exports stood at USD 67 billion (-4.1% y-o-y), with imports decreasing at a faster pace (7.4-% y-o-y, at USD 40 billion). The latest figures from Statistics Poland show that foreign trade turnover in January-October 2021 in exports at current prices amounted to PLN 1,059.1 billion (marking an increase of 22.5% on the same period one year earlier), while imports stood at PLN 1,054.5 billion (+27.5% y-o-y). In the same period, Germany kept being the main export and import partner (28.6% and 21%, respectively).