Chapter 2 · Prosperity
Growth, spending and poverty
Interactive 10 min
GDP grew 3.7% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, against 1.2% in the EU [1]. Real household consumption was 31.8% higher in 2025 than in 2016 [2]. 85 in 100 people were not at risk of poverty or social exclusion, against 79 in the EU [3].
Try this. Read the caveat under each chart. Which one says the figure is a relative measure, and what does "relative" mean here?
Sources: [1] Eurostat: GDP up by 0.4% and employment up by 0.1% in the euro area, 14 August 2026; [2] Eurostat: Household final consumption expenditure, chain-linked volumes (nama_10_gdp), updated October 2026; [3] Eurostat: Risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025
Step 1 of 3
Growing three times faster than the EU
GDP grew 3.7% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, against 1.2% in the EU and 2.1% in the United States (Eurostat’s flash estimates of 14 August). In 2025 average disposable income per person rose 6.7% after inflation, and spending took a smaller share of it, 57.6% instead of 59.3%.
Text version of this interactive
Growing three times faster than the EU
GDP grew 3.7% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, against 1.2% in the EU and 2.1% in the United States (Eurostat’s flash estimates of 14 August). In 2025 average disposable income per person rose 6.7% after inflation, and spending took a smaller share of it, 57.6% instead of 59.3%.
Household spending up 32% in real terms since 2016
Eurostat’s national accounts show real household consumption in Poland 31.8% higher in 2025 than in 2016, against 10.4% in the euro area and 10.1% in Germany. Consumer prices are 73% of the EU average, the third-lowest level in the Union, so each złoty still goes further than a euro does in Berlin.
Fewer people left behind
85 in 100 Poles are not at risk of poverty or social exclusion, against 79 across the EU. Only Czechia does better. Average gross pay in the enterprise sector reached PLN 9,401.58 in June 2026.
About this interactive
- Licence
- MIT
- Credits
- © 2026 Mateusz Wojczal. Code: MIT. Text and data: CC BY 4.0. Map: Natural Earth (public domain) through world-atlas (ISC). Fonts: Barlow, Barlow Semi Condensed, JetBrains Mono (SIL OFL 1.1). Every figure links to the institution that published it.
- Source
- https://github.com/ulams-dev/ulams/tree/main/demo-content/poland