Economy
Małopolska is one of the leading Polish regions in terms of economic potential and investment attractiveness. It is a space offering a wide range of opportunities for a modern economy based on innovation and sustainable development.
In Małopolska:
- The region’s GDP is PLN 246 895 million, which constitutes 8% of the country’s GDP – 5th place among Polish regions in terms of contribution to the national GDP (2022)
- The value of GDP per capita is PLN 72 thousand (2022)
- The 7 Smart Regional Specializations have the greatest share in generating the region’s GDP: life science, renewable energy, ICT, chemistry, production of metals and metal products, electrical engineering and machinery industry, creative and leisure industries
- There are over 2 million people in working age, which is almost 62% of the total population (2023)
- The capital of the region, Krakow, is a national leader in the modern business services industry: over 101,000 people work in 288 service centers, which is 22% of those employed in this sector throughout Poland
- There are 492 thousand business entities (2024).
- The most important export sectors are the electromechanical, automotive and chemical industries.
- The main foreign trade partners are Germany, Czechia, France, Italy and the UK.
- Exports of goods and services amount to over EUR 15.7 billion (2022), an increase by EUR 3,2 billion compared to 2021, the 6th place in Poland.
- Imports of goods and services amount to EUR 18,5 billion (2022), an increase by EUR 4,9 billion compared to 2021, again number 6.
- There are 5,3 thousand exporting companies (2022), almost 12% more than in 2021, 4th place in Poland.
- There are 5.6 thousand importing companies (2022), no. 4.
- A high national ranking of entities selling online – 2.6% of the total exports.
- Innovative activity was shown by 35.2% of industrial enterprises and 29.5% of service enterprises (2020-2022), an increase against 2019-2021 of 7.6 percentage points and 4.6 percentage points, respectively.
- This is the only one region in Poland in terms of expenditure on R&D – above 2,5% of the GDP.