While the great powers of Europe struggle, Poland is going gangbusters

Warsaw: Sitting in a cozy booth at The Exchange Bar and Grill in central Warsaw on a warm Saturday night, Rob Turner pours his beer on the table and talks about life in Poland’s capital.

“It’s amazing,” he says. “It’s a beautiful city, very safe, very clean, very modern. I could live very comfortably here. The lifestyle is great. And there are opportunities here if you’re willing to work hard and do something above and beyond the norm.”

Turner, 43, is one of the owners of this bar on the ground floor of a steel-and-glass office building in an area noisy with new construction. Raised in Adelaide, he has lived in Poland for seven years and plans to stay longer.

Alongside him, another owner of the bar, Justin Lestal, 35, explains the rationale for doing business in one of Europe’s most prominent success stories.

“This is a pro-business, entrepreneurial country,” says Lestal. “When I came to Poland, I had no business background. This is just a country with many opportunities.”

The decade since moving from Sydney has seen this city centre, not far from Warsaw’s central railway station, transformed with new apartments and office towers.

“This wave is growing and continues to grow,” Lestal says of Poland’s economic rise. “This is evident in infrastructure, GDP and the cost of everything. As the economy grows, the cost of living increases.”

The hustle and bustle is clearly visible on the nearby streets. Global companies have been moving to this part of Warsaw in the last decade, and it resembles an American city with its wide streets and tall towers. Warsaw also has a picturesque old town, where traditional buildings line a cafe-filled square, but the growth is elsewhere.

Much of the city was destroyed in World War II and then rebuilt on the dull concrete of Communism; Unfortunately, there are very few historical wonders left to save. Therefore, the people of Warsaw have no hesitation in demolishing everything and starting over.

Young workers who ride their scooters to work can find good jobs with employers in finance, service and technology. This is a city with many advantages for smart workers, like the software developers on the Google campus. Various companies, from law firms to pharmaceutical manufacturers, use the Polish cities of Krakow, Poznan, Katowice as their back offices.

As politicians in Britain prepare to appoint a seventh prime minister in a decade, many workers are groaning under the burden of high costs and slow growth. In France, the national parliament was paralyzed as workers took to the streets against pension reforms. In Germany, the economy has stalled and automakers are laying off workers.

With so many countries in trouble, it’s easy to play the old parlor trick of calling yourself “the sick man of Europe.” However, Poland’s health situation is quite poor.

The numbers tell the story and highlight what growth means for the future. They also point out the consequences for Australia of seeking allies in Europe.

With a population of 38.8 million, Poland is experiencing growth that other nations can only dream of. According to the Polish Institute of Economics, per capita economic output (GDP per capita) increased by 209 percent from 1990 to 2023. Once a poor country trapped behind the Iron Curtain, gain the wealth of their neighbors to the west. GDP per capita was 41 percent of the European Union average in 1990, but is now above 81 percent.

Polish economy grew by 3.6 percent last yearWhile Germany grew by 0.2 percent and France by 0.9 percent, United Kingdom increased by 1.3 percent.

Not only is the unemployment rate lower than most European countries at 3.1 per cent, it is also lower than Australia’s rate of 4.4 per cent. Government debt accounts for around 60 per cent of GDP and is likely to rise to 68 per cent in the next two years, although this is below levels in Britain and France.

“The Polish economy is impressively dynamic,” BNP Paribas economists said in February. “The country reached the highest growth rate in Central Europe and one of the highest growth rates in the European Union in 2025. This growth pattern should be observed once again in 2026.”

Two events helped the country rise. First, it regained independence in 1989 and established a stable democracy by charting its own path during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He eschewed the Moscow model of delegating economic power to oligarchs or centralizing political power in the dictator. The latter joined the European Union in 2004, providing access to millions of customers.

Michał Baranowski, undersecretary of state at the country’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, says the last three decades have brought faster growth in Poland than in most countries other than China.

“If you look at the big picture of the last 35 years, you will see that the economic transformation has been magnificent,” he says in this tagline. Baranowski, an economist who studied at Mercer University in the United States, Oxford University in England and Maastricht University in the Netherlands, was appointed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk in 2024.

“Poland has not developed an oligarchy as some have,” he says. “We had difficulties with the rule of law for a while, but we overcame them. That’s the basis.”

Baranowski says Poland benefits from European Union funding for roads, rail and other infrastructure from sources such as the European Recovery Fund, and he knows this is a big focus in the media. He argues that Poland has spent the money well by centralizing power, ensuring that decisions are made by people closer to the real projects.

Not all countries have prospered from the EU in the same way. In Hungary, for example, leaders in Brussels froze more than €16 billion ($26 billion) in funds due to concerns about corruption and restrictions on democracy under former prime minister Viktor Orbán, who ruled for 16 years until he lost national elections in April. The EU is releasing the fund under the management of his successor, Péter Magyar.

When this imprint spoke to Hungarian voters in Budapest in April, some complained that their government had failed to deliver the same growth as Poland. In the post-communist period in Central Europe, the approach taken in Warsaw clearly worked.

More important than access to EU funds is access to the EU market, says Baranowski.

“The even bigger benefit is the way Polish businesses benefit from the single market,” he says. “More than 99 percent of Polish companies are small and medium-sized businesses, and they have succeeded in the single market and are now moving beyond it.”

Australians can see evidence of Poland’s rise as a producer and exporter. Most of the Twinings tea sold to the world market is packaged in Poland. A supermarket in Australia might stock Colgate toothpaste or Finish dishwashing tablets produced here.

A car factory in Tychy in southern Poland produced Fiats under license during the Communist era. The factory, now owned by Stellantis, produces the Fiat 500 for export markets. (But Australians are more likely to see the Fiat 500e electric vehicle built in Turin.)

But there are signs of tension. Centrist prime minister Tusk is at odds with conservative president Karol Nawrocki. As in other European countries, there are serious concerns about immigration. At the same time, the country has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, so it may need foreign workers to fill local jobs. It is common to see drivers from Uzbekistan or Georgia in taxis around Warsaw.

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine is raising security concerns, while also spurring defense investment and bringing more activity to NATO military bases that support Ukrainian armed forces.

Damien Stewart, president of the Polish branch of the Polish Australian Chamber of Commerce, says he sees more Polish companies wanting to do business in Australia than others. He wants to encourage more of both, he says over coffee at Fabryka Norblina, a historic factory converted into a bustling food and shopping mall.

Judging by the volume of trade and investment today, there is a lot of potential. Australia’s investment in Poland was worth $2.2 billion in 2025, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The investment in the other direction was 25.1 billion dollars. Trade figures show Australia buys more from Poland than it sells there.

Things may change under the free trade agreement signed between Australia and the EU this year. While the agreement sparked concerns from farmers in France and Ireland, the Polish government was seen as a supporter of the agreement. It’s not just about Australian beef and lamb exports: when Poland held its annual MSPO defense exhibition last year, 50 Australian defense companies attended.

“Australia has much to offer in our growing economic relationship with Poland,” says Benjamin Hayes, Australian Ambassador to Poland. “We see special opportunities for critical mineral exports and joint investment with the defense industry, energy security and renewable energy sector.”

Baranowski wants more trade and investment with Australia; However, it would be fair to say that his priority will be major export markets such as India and China, according to his travel plans. “The FTA with Australia helps,” he says. “We’re not there yet with Australia. But we’re building.”

Get notes directly from abroad reporters about things that make headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.