Is Poland a poor country?

Stop writing profanities on this forum! Also you can write in Polish only in the Polish language section of this forum!
uyyyyyyy

^ Rough translation: IS is annoyed that yet again somebody who litoves in Poland had told him what life is like in the country he abandoned and refuses to come back to.

and 100% untrue.
GDP per capita: Poles still among the poorest in Europe

4th December 2012
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Despite steady economic growth, Poland's GDP per capita will still be one of the lowest in the EU next year

Source: The Economist
In 2013, Poland’s GDP per capita will stand at $13,490, lower than any other country in the European Union bar Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria, according to a ranking prepared by The Economist magazine.

Poland was beaten out by countries such as Croatia, Lithuania, Russia and even Hungary, which has seen significant economic upheaval in recent years.

When the ranking takes into consideration purchasing pow-er parity, Poland just manages to slightly edge out the above-mentioned countries.

But it remains significantly poorer than its Western European counterparts, of whom the richest are the Norwegians, the Swiss and the Danes. To compare, Poland’s nominal GDP per capita is seven times lower than that of Norway.

Is Poland a poor country?
It's all relative. I imagine there are many third world countries who wouldn't see it that way.
Average salaries are of course lower than the EU average but it will get better.


I think he makes a ******* good point. TBH:D

Hello!

I am from Afghanistan!

What the poorest country??? I had the same opinion about my country before visiting Poland. Then i realized that there are poorer nations like Poland.

Shocked? Yes our government is poor (because it is 10 years old now) but not the nation, there unskilled people earn from 500$ to 700$ and if you have a profession you can easily start from 1000$.

But here it is the opposite, the government is rich but the nation is extremely poor. I was shocked when i came to Poland and start looking for a job, it was a struggle to find job here because of extreme unemployment, and when i finaly found one in the KFC i was shocked when the employer told me that i will work full time and my salary will be 1100 zloty (about 300$). the most paid salary i found were in restaurants 1500 zloty(about 400$) :O ????

I have contacts with lots of Polish people and i can say that almost half of their population is working outside country right now (ruining job markets of other countries). i don't know what will happen if they all suddently return s:

I am shocked! So I went straight to the online book of knowledge know as wikipedia to do some real scientific research:D I found this:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Afghanistan

Afghanistan still remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the worldthat is highly dependent on foreign aid. The nation's GDP stands at about $29 billion with an exchange rate of $18 billion, and the GDP per capita is about $1,000.[1]

About 35% of its population is unemployed and live below the poverty line, suffering from shortages of housing, clean drinking water, and electricity.

So, compared to somewhere like Afghanistan I don't think Poland is a poor country. Those salaries you quoted for Afghan are annual, those for Poland are monthly and probably nearer part-time than full time...

Why?

Why? Lol:D You have lived here a lot longer than me. Surely you can work that one out for yourself...
I know that you are waiting for a huge property market crash and the frustration that it's not going to happen has probably clouded your judgement over economic issues...

Milky - this is true, but none of those countries are poor in the first place (not in global terms).
You will always have richer and poorer countries, no matter what.

WHICH PART IS FALSE?
GDP per capita: Poles still among the poorest in Europe

4th December 2012
Bookmark and Share

Despite steady economic growth, Poland's GDP per capita will still be one of the lowest in the EU next year

Source: The Economist
In 2013, Poland's GDP per capita will stand at $13,490, lower than any other country in the European Union bar Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria, according to a ranking prepared by The Economist magazine.

Poland was beaten out by countries such as Croatia, Lithuania, Russia and even Hungary, which has seen significant economic upheaval in recent years.

When the ranking takes into consideration purchasing pow-er parity, Poland just manages to slightly edge out the above-mentioned countries.

But it remains significantly poorer than its Western European counterparts, of whom the richest are the Norwegians, the Swiss and the Danes. To compare, Poland's nominal GDP per capita is seven times lower than that of Norway.

No I can't see how you can be right , please explain without the sneer?


I predicted that it will go to mid 2006 prices. When?? in the future sometime.
ober-haus.pl/files/pl/files/en/reports/actual/Ober-Haus%20Polish%20Cities%20Apartment%20Price%20Index%20October%202012.pdf

I have to go to work soon but I will give a better response later.
However, you are mearly comparing things like GDP and salaries. These are relative to expenditure.
If I pay 80% less in Poland for my rent and bills, if I pay 60-70% less in my daily expenditure (shopping, travel etc) then that makes a huge difference.

You don't need to earn the same money to live the same lifestyle here... Do you get it?
Comparing Poland to say Norway or Germany is rather ridiculous. Compare it to say Ukraine or Belarus and you'll have a much better comparison.

You cannot blame Poland for the sh*t that's happened to her during the last 70 years. Poland is definitely moving forward and will continue to grow strong.

If you don't like Poland you are welcome to go home...

???

Ok, I agree, with that statement 100%.


??????
No, I blame Russia, actually.


I agree---I am not surprised by this ranking, you have to remember that we started from a very low base after communism, probably on the same level as Bulgaria,” said Piotr Bielski, an economist at BZ WBK.

“In fact, we have made progress in recent years narrowing that gap, not because of tremendous economic growth but because others have been shrinking while we have at least been growing,” he added, saying Poland had a chance to catch up to the rest of Europe “in 10 or 20 years.”

Mr Bielski also said he expected Poland to continue making progress on this front in the coming years due to steady economic growth.

Perhaps people on this thread have different ideas of what the word "rich" means?
I don't know if Poland as a collective of people and geography is "rich" but I would say what wealth does lay here is horribly mismanaged.

I agree. I think that was the plan of the shock therapy in 1989. Nomenclatura- Chicago Boys. Plutocracy remains intact.
youtube.com/watch?v=Pv-_8lLke6g

I;m crying with laughter here guys.
Poland and Afghanistan being compared

Stop it you will kill me.

What? You don't believe Poland is poorer than Afghanistan?

I wouldn't even class Afghanistan as a country.. It's just a piece of land filled with taleban, foreign troops, bombs, bullets and camels

The poster UFO973 made the comparison between the two countries but deliberately misled the forum over salaries to make Poland look poorer than Afghan, lol:D


As Lenka said, It's still a country with real people who have feelings and dreams. As is Poland.
The real wealth of Poland is it's traditions, culture, cuisine and it's people, not some illusionary dollar value... In that respect, Poland will never be poor.

We often forget that behind some words are ppl.Words as nation,country, society,group and so on tends to hide stories of ppl.Even here we only see the screen names.We often argue and use harsh words but when it comes to real ppl...From what I heard all PF meetings were a success.Why?Because real ppl met and not their screen names.

I'm going to sound like some loony but if ppl would stop looking for differences and started to really see other cultures we wouldn't have this arguments.

Lenka, you don't sound like a looney. Wise words indeed.
People are people, nationality is irrelevant. People should be judged by their character and their actions, not for their passport...
Ok, I've had too much to drink... :D I need to go clubbing soon:D

TommyG


Same can be said about any country. Everywhere is rich

If you truly accept this statement, then why continue to endlessly bash the Polish?
My advice would be to stop reading the papers and go out and meet some Poles in the UK for yourself. And come to Poland for a holiday.

Then, when you have some real life experience, give your verdict...
What say you? Sounds fair?

Now you sound like an intelligent person :)
Just messing around.
Of course different countries have different standards of life but that's just one piece.You can get mad about emigrants but take a look at them from other angle.Maybe they can teach you something(and I don't only mean Poles).If you meet a lunatic turn around (no matter what country he represents) but in other cases open your mind.

I'm sure if HudsonHicks met some real Poles and shared his wise words of wisdom he would receive a warm welcome:D
After he hears the words "O co chodzi" he will be warmly welcomed by his new friends with the 'Wypierdolić' (a Polish traditional greeting).

After that I'm sure he will be converted:D

Probably yes.But I have a feeling he would be wiser when meeting real people.


Of course.one day. :D

My views on mass immigration in my country from the EU is completely unrelated to how i judge people as individuals.

Tommy doesn't realise that. He's too infatuated with Poland and everything Polish it's gone to his head. Anything he believes is even mildly critical of his new found country he goes berserk and starts hating on his own country and calling British people every name under the sun.

maybe he does it because he's not British?

I am British but of Polish descent. Does that clarify the situation a little...?

It's total false. Poland is the richest Slavic country and Poland is so far from the poorest countries in Europe. The level of GDP per capita is nearest countries like: Greece, Italy, Slovenia. Other option doesn't exist.

so it is not the richest Slavic country seeing as Slovenia is ahead, pretty sure Czech Rep and Slovakia are ahead of Poland as well