Gross domestic product in Poland has been increasing since 2017 and is expected to reach approximately 1,304.96 billion U.S. dollars by 2030. Poland’s economy tripled in size during the early 2000s, before being hit by the global financial crisis. After several years of fluctuation, Poland’s GDP recently reached an all-time high of around 908.58 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Major changes in the nineties Poland suffered an economic crisis during the late 1980s, with shortages of goods and a debt crisis among the reasons for a rising inflation rate. In the two years from 1988 to 1990, inflation increased from around 60 percent to almost 600 percent. However, Poland’s GDP began to grow during the 1990s, following the end of communist rule. Poland’s GDP per capita reflects this change, rising from around 1,600 U.S. dollars in 1990 to more than 4,300 U.S. dollars in 1999. Improving rates of employment Unemployment rates in Poland have steadily improved over recent years and in 2018 reached some of the lowest levels the country has reported in decades. Poland’s unemployment rate has been declining since 2013 and fell below four percent in 2018. Youth unemployment rates were especially affected following 2008, with the number of young people without jobs growing by roughly ten percent in just five years. By 2013, almost a third of those aged between 15 and 24 years were unemployed.

This dataset provides values for GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

In 2023, Poland recorded approximately 2.21 million small and medium-sized enterprises, of which large-companies amounted to approximately 3,100.

With a Gross Domestic Product of over 4.18 trillion Euros, the German economy was by far the largest in Europe in 2023. The similarly sized economies of the United Kingdom and France were the second and third largest economies in Europe during this year, followed by Italy and Spain. The smallest economy in this statistic is that of the small Balkan nation of Montenegro, which had a GDP of 5.7 billion Euros. In this year, the combined GDP of the 27 member states that compose the European Union amounted to approximately 17.1 trillion Euros. The big five Germany’s economy has consistently had the largest economy in Europe since 1980, even before the reunification of West and East Germany. The United Kingdom, by contrast, has had mixed fortunes during the same period and had a smaller economy than Italy in the late 1980s. The UK also suffered more than the other major economies during the recession of the late 2000s, meaning the French economy was the second largest on the continent for some time afterward. The Spanish economy was continually the fifth-largest in Europe in this 38-year period, and from 2004 onwards, has been worth more than one trillion Euros. The smallest GDP, the highest economic growth in Europe Despite having the smallerst GDP of Europe, Montenegro emerged as the fastest growing economy in the continent, achieving an impressive annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, surpassing Turkey's growth rate of 4 percent. Overall,this Balkan nation has shown a remarkable economic recovery since the 2010 financial crisis, with its GDP projected to grow by 28.71 percent between 2024 and 2029. Contributing to this positive trend are successful tourism seasons in recent years, along with increased private consumption and rising imports. Europe's economic stagnation Malta, Albania, Iceland, and Croatia were among the countries reporting some of the highest growth rates this year. However, Europe's overall performance reflected a general slowdown in growth compared to the trend seen in 2021, during the post-pandemic recovery. Estonia experienced the sharpest negative growth in 2023, with its economy shrinking by 2.3% compared to 2022, primarily due to the negative impact of sanctions placed on its large neighbor, Russia. Other nations, including Sweden, Germany, and Finland, also recorded slight negative growth.

In 1938, the year before the Second World War, the United States had, by far, the largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). The five Allied Great Powers that emerged victorious from the war, along with the three Axis Tripartite Pact countries that were ultimately defeated made up the eight largest independent economies in 1938.

When values are converted into 1990 international dollars, the U.S. GDP was over 800 billion dollars in 1938, which was more than double that of the second largest economy, the Soviet Union. Even the combined economies of the UK, its dominions, and colonies had a value of just over 680 billion 1990 dollars, showing that the United States had established itself as the world's leading economy during the interwar period (despite the Great Depression).

Interestingly, the British and Dutch colonies had larger combined GDPs than their respective metropoles, which was a key motivator for the Japanese invasion of these territories in East Asia during the war. Trade with neutral and non-belligerent countries also contributed greatly to the economic development of Allied and Axis powers throughout the war; for example, natural resources from Latin America were essential to the American war effort, while German manufacturing was often dependent on Swedish iron supplies.

In the build up to the Second World War, the United States was the major power with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world. In 1938, the United States also had the highest overall GDP in the world, and by a significant margin, however differences in GDP per person were much smaller. Switzerland In terms of countries that played a notable economic role in the war, the neutral country of Switzerland had the highest GDP per capita in the world. A large part of this was due to the strength of Switzerland's financial system. Most major currencies abandoned the gold standard early in the Great Depression, however the Swiss Franc remained tied to it until late 1936. This meant that it was the most stable, freely convertible currency available as the world recovered from the Depression, and other major powers of the time sold large amounts of gold to Swiss banks in order to trade internationally. Switzerland was eventually surrounded on all sides by Axis territories and lived under the constant threat of invasion in the war's early years, however Swiss strategic military planning and economic leverage made an invasion potentially more expensive than it was worth. Switzerland maintained its neutrality throughout the war, trading with both sides, although its financial involvement in the Holocaust remains a point of controversy. Why look at GDP per capita? While overall GDP is a stronger indicator of a state's ability to fund its war effort, GDP per capita is more useful in giving context to a country's economic power in relation to its size and providing an insight into living standards and wealth distribution across societies. For example, Germany and the USSR had fairly similar GDPs in 1938, whereas Germany's per capita GDP was more than double that of the Soviet Union. Germany was much more industrialized and technologically advanced than the USSR, and its citizens generally had a greater quality of life. However these factors did not guarantee victory - the fact that the Soviet Union could better withstand the war of attrition and call upon its larger population to replenish its forces greatly contributed to its eventual victory over Germany in 1945.

This dataset provides values for GDP PER CAPITA PPP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

This dataset provides values for GOVERNMENT DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Czechia had the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) among Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in 2024, at an estimated ** thousand 2017 international U.S. dollars. It was followed by Slovenia and Lithuania. The lowest figure among the presented CEE countries was recorded in Ukraine. In 2029, Poland's GDP per capita in PPP terms was forecast to reach approximately **** thousand 2017 international U.S. dollars.

Estonia donated the most significant percentage of its 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) to help Ukraine over the period between January 24, 2022, and February 28, 2025. Estonia contributed 2.34 percent of its GDP in bilateral aid, followed by Denmark with 2.32 percent of GDP. Besides the Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland donated the largest share of GDP. Western countries sent aid to Ukraine in view of the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. Who donated the most to Ukraine? In absolute terms, the largest bilateral aid allocations to Ukraine were made by the United States, at over 114 billion euros as of February 28, 2025. European Union (EU) institutions, such as the European Commission and the European Council, allocated the second-largest amount of assistance, at almost 52.1 billion euros. The United Kingdom (UK) was the fourth-leading source of bilateral aid. EU aid to Ukraine The EU has supported Ukraine with over 17 billion euros in financial assistance since 2014 as of January 2022. Of them, the largest share of aid has been provided as additional loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Among EU members, Germany allocated the largest amount of bilateral aid to Ukraine from January 24, 2022, at around 17 billion euros, while Estonia allocated the largest share of GDP.

During the post-war economic boom, between the Second World War and the 1970s' recession, virtually all areas of Europe experienced significant economic growth. While this period is known as the "Golden Age of Capitalism" in Western Europe, communist countries in Eastern Europe (with socialist economic systems) generally experienced higher GDP growth rates in the 1950s and 1960s. Although most of these economies entered the period at a much less-developed stage than the likes of Britain, France, or West Germany, the Soviet model proved to be an economic success in these decades. Controlling the means of production The transition to communism across Eastern Europe saw the nationalization of most industries, as governments took control of the means of production in their respective countries. As much of Eastern Europe entered the period with relatively-low levels of industrialization compared to the west, this meant that governments could dictate the development of their manufacturing and retail industries. By the end of the 1960s, state-owned endeavors in Eastern Europe were responsible for over 95 percent of national income. Problems did arise, however, when states attempted to take control of the agricultural sector, as many of the families who owned the land were unwilling to part with it. Agriculture proved to be the only major industry not mostly owned by the state during Eastern Europe's communist era; in the long term, agriculture suffered due to the lack of government investment in such state-run economic systems. Variations There is a correlation between the sides taken during the Second World War and the speed of economic growth in each decade; the Allied nations of Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia all experienced faster economic growth in the 1950s; whereas the Axis nations of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania saw faster growth in the 1960s. East Germany was the exception to this rule, as its economy was much more developed than other former-Axis powers. The speed of recovery in these countries was the largest contributor to variations in growth rates, although regional variations in governance did influence development in later years (particularly in Yugoslavia).

The economy of the European Union is set to grow by *** percent in 2025, according to forecasts by the European Commission. This marks a significant slowdown compared to previous years, when the EU member states grew quickly in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. ***** is the country which is forecasted to grow the most in 2025, with an annual growth rate of *** percent. Many of Europe's largest economies, on the other hand, are set to experiencing slow growth or stagnation, with Germany, France, and Italy growing below *** percent.

In 2024, Poland's defense spending as a share of gross domestic product was **** percent, the highest of all NATO member states, followed by Estonia at **** percent, and then the United States at **** percent. It is a target of NATO that every member country should spend at least two percent of their GDP on defense. As of this year, it is estimated that all but eight of the alliance's 31 member states were meeting this target. The average expenditure on defense expenditure across all NATO member states was **** percent in 2024, compared with **** percent in the previous year. NATO, Trump, and the War in Ukraine Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shook many European powers out of a creeping complacency that had set in since the end of the Cold War. It led directly to the applications of Sweden and Finland to the alliance in 2022, with the latter joining later that year. The conflict has however also underlined how Europe's security is still underpinned by American military power, with the United States the main contributor of military aid to Ukraine. Furthermore, in overall defense spending, the U.S. spends far more than the rest of NATO combined. The current Trump administration has frequently criticized NATO states that they see as taking advantage of this discrepancy, urging other members to reach and even exceed the two percent threshold. Article 5 triggered in the aftermath of 9/11 While NATO was founded with the aim of deterring the Soviet Union in the Cold War, its central defense clause "Article 5" whereby an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, has only been triggered once; after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. NATO's involvement in the subsequent War in Afghanistan was a direct result of this, with troops supporting the operation from across the alliance. Although NATO's focus drifted towards counter-insurgency, and the threat from terrorism in this period, its original purpose has become far more important recently.

Shares of intra-EU trade, that is, the trade of goods between European Union member states, have remained relatively stable over the period since 2002, with a few notable trends.

Leaders of the pack: Germany and the Netherlands

Germany has consistently been the biggest exporter of goods to other member states, with the Netherlands being consistently the second largest exporter after 2005. This is consistent with Germany's status as the EU's export powerhouse, with the country also being the largest exporter to the rest of the world. The Netherlands on the other hand is predominantly an intra-EU exporter, taking a smaller share of extra-EU exports.

A declining exporter: France

France, which was the second largest exporter from 2002 to 2005, has seen its share of the EU export trade decline to less than eight percent over the period, ranking as the fifth biggest exporter in 2021. France's economy, while still the second largest in the EU, has been troubled by issues of unemployment, relatively slow GDP growth, and uneven development over the past two decades.

Europe's new export powers: Poland and Czechia

At the beginning of this period, Poland and Czechia were struggling post-communist states, looking to join the EU in 2004. Since their EU accession, however, these two Central & Eastern European countries have seen a remarkable turn-around in their economic fortunes. Benefitting in particular from the trend of Western European countries 'near-shoring' their production eastwards, in order to benefit from their skilled workforces with relatively low wage levels, the first two decades of the twenty-first century have seen Czechia's share of intra-EU exports double, while Poland's has almost tripled.

From January 24, 2022, to February 28, 2025, the European Union (EU) institutions, such as the Commission and the EU Council, provided around 52.1 billion euros in bilateral financial, humanitarian, and military aid to Ukraine in view of the Russian invasion that started in February 2022. The highest value of allocations was recorded from the United States at over 114 billion euros. U.S. aid to Ukraine As of February 28, 2025, the value of U.S. bilateral aid allocations to Ukraine represented 0.53 percent of 2021 donor GDP. The U.S. donated the largest amount of bilateral military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Generally, U.S. foreign aid to Ukraine has increased since 2015. Where does military aid to Ukraine come from? The U.S., Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), and Denmark were the largest suppliers of military aid to Ukraine. In monetary terms, the U.S. bilateral military assistance to the country reached approximately 64.6 billion euros as of February 28, 2025. As part of that aid, the U.S. transported over 7,700 air defense missiles and over 1,600 air defense systems to Ukraine and other European partners as of January 2025. Furthermore, the U.S. delivered the most units of M777 howitzer artillery to the country.

At **** U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the January 2025 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was **** dollars in the U.S., and **** U.S. dollars in the Euro area. What is the Big Mac index? The Big Mac index, published by The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity? Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries, the U.S. has the largest economy.

In 2023 Germany's contribution to the budget of the European Union was more than 29 billion Euros, the highest of any EU member state. France was the next highest contributor at 26 billion Euros. followed by Italy at 16 billion Euros and Spain at 11.1 billion Euros. The country which contributed the lowest amount was the small island nation of Malta, at 151.9 million Euros. Largest economies in Europe The amount which EU member states contribute to the EU budget is heavily linked to the size of its economy. Germany, for example, has the largest economy in the whole of the EU, with Gross domestic product reaching almost 4.12 trillion Euros in 2023. France and Italy have the second and third largest economies in Europe with GDPs of 2.8 and 2.1 trillion euros respectively.