DISINFO: Poland's economic growth is achieved by the low level of life of the Poles
SUMMARY
Since the 16th century, Poland has been the periphery of Europe – currently, it continues to be the European outsider. The economic growth of this country is achieved by the low level of life of the Poles. Also, the Poles have longer working week than any other country (after South Korea). The modern-day capitalists compensate for the lack of innovations in the Polish economy by the exploitation of workers and low salaries.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative about economic problems and market reform failures in Central and Eastern Europe - see other examples here and here. Over the last two decades, Poland has become one of Europe's most dynamic economies, enjoying uninterrupted economic growth since the early 1990s, with average GDP growth of 4.2% a year, doubling its GDP between 1990 and 2015. This growth has allowed Poland to narrow the economic gap with the EU's most developed economies: the Polish GDP (at PPP) increased from 32% to 60% of the Western European average. According to the Bloomberg Innovative Index 2019, Poland became the 22nd most innovative economy in the world. As for the length of the working week, according to OECD data on average hours worked per year, Poland comes in 9th (1792 hours in 2019), with Mexico (2148), Costa Rica (2121) and South Korea (1993) leading this list.