World Grain - March 2019 - 22

COUNTRY FOCUS

FOCUS ON

POLAND
Major grain producer has subpar 2018
harvest due to unfavorable weather
by Chris Lyddon

Poland is one of Europe's biggest producers of grains and oilseeds, although unfavorable weather produced a highly disappointing 2018 harvest. H istorically, it has had large numbers
of small farms, although the long-term trend is toward consolidation. As a Member State of the European Union, the country's farm policy is largely set as part of the E.U.'s Common
Agricultural Policy, with its system based around direct payments to bolster the income of farmers. Poland's Agriculture
Minister is involved with CAP decisions through membership
of the Council of Agriculture Ministers, while its MEPs vote
on those decisions in the European Parliament.
The International Grains Council ( IGC) puts Poland's total
grains crop in 2018-19 at 26 .3 million tonnes, down from 3 1.5
million the previous year. The wheat crop in 2018-19 was 9 .8
million tonnes, down from 11.6 million the year before. The
country's barley crop fell to 3 .2 million tonnes from 3 .8 million and production of oats fell to 1.2 million tonnes from 1.4
million. Production of rye in Poland in 2018-19 was
2.3 million tonnes, down from 2.6 million in
2017-18.
Production of rapeseed in Poland in 2018-19 was 2.1 million
tonnes, down from 2.7 million
the year before. The USDA attaché , in an annual report on
the sector published in J uly,
putting the crop at 2 million
tonnes, 26 % down on the
year, said: "This production decrease stems from
unfavorable weather conditions during fall planting in
2017 and drought conditions
in May-J uly 2018."
The IGC does not list Poland's maiz e production, but an
attaché report on the drought-hit
22

KEY FACTS
Capital: Warsaw
Population: 38,420,687 (July 2018 est.)
Religions: Catholic 87.2% (includes Roman Catholic 86.9% and Greek Catholic, Armenian Catholic,
and Byzantine-Slavic Catholic 0.3%), Orthodox 1.3%
(almost all are Polish Autocephalous Orthodox), Protestant 0.4% (mainly Augsburg Evangelical and Pentacostal), other 0.4% (includes Jehovah's Witness,
Buddhist, Hare Krishna, Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Muslim, Jewish, Mormon), unspecified 10.8% (2012 est.).
Location: Central Europe, east of Germany.
Government: Parliamentary republic. Chief of state:
President Andrzej Duda (since Aug. 6, 2015); head
of government: Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
(since Dec. 11, 2017).
Economy: Poland has the sixth-largest economy in
the E.U. and has long had a reputation as a businessfriendly country with largely sound macroeconomic
policies. Since 1990, Poland has pursued a policy
of economic liberalization. During the 2008-09 economic slowdown, Poland was the only E.U. country
to avoid a recession, in part because of the government's loose fiscal policy combined with a commitment to rein in spending in the medium term. Poland
is the largest recipient of E.U. development funds and
their cyclical allocation can significantly impact the
rate of economic growth. The Polish economy performed well during the 2014-17 period, with the real
GDP growth rate generally exceeding 3%, in part because of increases in government social spending that
have helped to accelerate consumer-driven growth.
However, since 2015, Poland has implemented new
business restrictions and taxes on foreign-dominated
economic sectors, including banking and insurance,
energy, and health care, that have dampened investor
sentiment and has increased the government's ownership of some firms. The government reduced the
retirement age in 2016 and has had mixed success
in introducing new taxes and boosting tax compliance to offset the increased costs of social spending
programs. Some credit ratings agencies estimate that
Poland during the next few years is at risk of exceeding the E.U.'s 3%-of-GDP limit on budget deficits,
possibly impacting its access to future E.U. funds.
Poland's economy is projected to perform well in the
next few years in part because of an anticipated cyclical increase in the use of its E.U. development funds
and continued, robust household spending.
GDP per capita: $29,600 (2017 est.); inflation: 2%
(2017 est.); unemployment: 4.9% (2017 est.).
Currency: zlotych (PLN): 3.81 zlotych equal 1 U.S.
dollar (Feb. 26, 2019).
Exports: $224.6 billion (2017 est.): machinery and
transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured
goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2012 est.
Imports: $223.8 billion (2017 est.): machinery and
transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 15%, minerals, fuels,
lubricants, and related materials 9% (2011 est.).
Agriculture: 2.4% (2017 est.) of GDP and 11.5%
of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .pl; 28,237,820 (July 2016 est.)
users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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