Since the fall of communism, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition from a state-directed economy to a primarily privately owned market economy.

The privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of an aggressive private sector. As a consequence, consumer rights organisations have also appeared. Restructuring and privatisation of “sensitive sectors” such as coal, steel, railways, and energy has been continuing since 1990. Between 2007 and 2010, the government plans to float twenty public companies on the Polish stock market, including parts of the coal industry. To date (2007), the biggest privatisations have been the sale of the national telecoms firm Telekomunikacja Polska to France Telecom in 2000, and an issue of 30% of the shares in Poland’s largest bank, PKO Bank Polski, on the Polish stockmarket in 2004.

Poland has a large number of private farms in its agricultural sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union. However, problems remain, especially under-investment. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment[citation needed] and needs a continued large inflow. GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004, GDP growth equaled 5.4%, in 2005 3.3% and in 2006 6.1%. For 2007, the government has set a target for GDP growth at 6.5 to 7.0%.

The long standing head of the National Bank of Poland, Leszek Balcerowicz, was replaced by Sławomir Skrzypek in January 2007. At first the markets reacted sceptically and fell, but since then have stabilized and then risen sharply.

Recent annual growth rates by quarters have been:

Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2006 5.5% 5.8% 6.3% 6.7%
2005 2.1% 2.8% 3.7% 4.3%
2004 7.0% 6.1% 4.8% 4.9%
2003 2.2% 3.8% 4.7% 4.7%

Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing economic development, there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the European Single Currency (Euro). There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be allowed to join the Eurozone, although the best guess estimates put the entry date somewhere between 2009 and 2013[citation needed]. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (though it has not joined the ERM yet), and the Złoty may eventually be replaced by Euro in the Polish economy.

Since joining the European Union, many Polish people have left their country to work in other EU countries (particularly Ireland and the UK) because of high unemployment, which is currently the highest in the EU with 11.8% in February 2007 (was 15.1% in February 2006).

Products Poland produces include clothes, glass, china (Mikasa, Waterford), electronics, cars (such as luxury Leopard car), buses (Autosan, Jelcz SA, Solaris, Solbus), helicopters (PZL Świdnik), transport equipment, locomotives, planes (PZL Mielec), ships, military engineering (including tanks, SPAAG systems), medicines (Polpharma, Polfa), food, chemical products and others.