Poland’s gross domestic product exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 2023, marking a historic milestone in the country’s post-communist economic transformation and highlighting its rise as one of the European Union’s fastest-growing economies.

According to data from Statista and the World Bank reviewed on January 18, Poland’s nominal GDP reached $1.16 trillion in 2023 and is projected to rise to $1.23 trillion in 2024 and $1.3 trillion in 2025. The figures represent a dramatic increase from $63.84bn in 1987 and $199.07bn in 2003, the year before Poland joined the EU.

The country’s economic growth since joining the bloc in 2004 has boomed, significantly outpacing the EU average. During the 2008 global crisis its economy was one of only wo not to go into recession. (Uzbekistan was the other.)

While the EU-27’s GDP has roughly doubled over the past two decades, Poland’s has increased more than fivefold during the same period. The country has consistently ranked among the top EU performers in GDP growth, even during periods of wider European stagnation and crisis.

“Crossing the $1 trillion threshold is both symbolic and substantive,” said a Warsaw-based economist at Pekao SA. “It confirms Poland’s role as a regional economic engine, with growing clout inside the EU.”

Some are already asking if Poland is not going to take over Germany’s traditional role as the engine of Europe, after that country fell into recession three years ago and has seen its economic model fundamentally altered following the end of cheap Russian energy imports.

Between 2004 and 2023, Poland avoided recession during the 2008 global financial crisis and was the only EU member state to post positive GDP growth in 2009. Following a brief contraction in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, growth rebounded sharply, driven by industrial output, resilient exports, and EU structural funds.

Recent growth has been bolstered by increased defence spending, supply chain diversification from Asia, and Poland’s growing role as a manufacturing and logistics hub for Western Europe. In 2023, the country attracted record levels of foreign direct investment, particularly in the automotive and electronics sectors.

The Polish government has stated that it aims to reach parity in per capita GDP with Western European economies by the early 2030s. “Poland is closing the gap, but there is still a lot of work to do to sustain momentum,” said a senior official at the Ministry of Finance.

According to the European Commission, Poland’s GDP growth is forecast to remain above the EU average through 2025.