The Polish Chamber of Commerce summarizes GUS data on the economic situation of the provinces and industries in January-September 2023.
Unemployment
At the end of September this year, the number of registered unemployed amounted to 776,000, which was 6,500 lower than at the end of August and 25,700 lower than a year ago.
The unemployment rate, at 5.0% at the end of September, was the same as a month earlier. At the same time, it turned out to be 0.1 percentage points lower than a year ago, which is weaker than in August (-0.2 percentage points). September is a period when unemployment statistics stabilize at a good level and sometimes even improve.
The highest unemployment rate is in the Subcarpathian province (8.3%), and the lowest in the Greater Poland province (3.0%).
Salaries in industry and construction
The average wage in the first nine months of 2023 averaged nationwide at PLN 7,243 in industry and PLN 6,906 in construction.
Year-on-year wages rose 11.7% in industry and 6.9% in construction.
The highest level of average wages in industry (PLN 8,223 on average) was recorded in the Lower Silesia province. In turn, the lowest wages in industry were in the Warmia and Mazury region (an average of PLN 6,175).
The highest wages in construction are in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (average PLN 8,344). Podkarpackie, on the other hand, is the region with the lowest wages – an average of PLN 5,356.
Industry – production and productivity
In January-September 2023, industrial output sold on an annual basis fell by 1.9% nationwide. The decrease was recorded in 12 provinces – the largest in the Pomeranian region (by 14.6%). Production increased in four provinces – the largest increase was in the Lower Silesia region (by 9.5%).
Productivity in industry in the period I-IX 2023 decreased by 1.3% on average. Declines were recorded in 10 provinces – the largest in Pomorskie (by 14.9%). Productivity increased in six provinces, the highest in the Lower Silesia region (up 9.2%).
Construction – production and productivity
In the first nine months of this year, construction output rose 8.3% nationwide. Compared to the same period last year, the increases covered all regions. The highest growth was recorded in the Lubelskie (by 33.8%); Subcarpathian (by 33.2%); and West Pomeranian (by 32.4%) provinces.
Productivity in construction increased in all provinces, with the strongest growth in the Subcarpathian province (by 38.9%).
Housing market
In I-IX 2023, 161,308 apartments were completed – 3.4% less than a year ago. The highest decrease in the number of completed apartments compared to last year was recorded in Lubuskie Voivodeship (by 30.5%) and the highest increase in Mazowieckie and Podlaskie Voivodeships (by 5.5%).
Employment and wages
In January-September, employment in the entire business sector was 0.5% higher than a year ago, averaging 6,527,000. In industry alone, employment fell y-o-y by 0.6% (to 2,751,000).
The highest growth in employment in January-September 2023 was recorded in industries such as information and communications (up 6.8%); accommodation and catering (up 5.7%) production of computers, electronic and optical products (up 5.6%), among others. In contrast, the largest declines in employment were seen in water collection, treatment and supply (down 12.7%); textile manufacturing (down 7.2%) or furniture manufacturing (down 7.2%).
The average wage in the enterprise sector in I-IX 2023 was PLN 7,336, 12.0% higher than a year ago.
In almost all industries analyzed by the CSO (except for the construction of buildings), wages rose highest in land and pipeline transportation (by 16.5%).
The highest salaries in January-September were received by employees in the information and communications industry (PLN 12,477). In contrast, the lowest wages were recorded in clothing production (PLN 4,636).
Production and productivity
Industrial output sold in January-September 2023 fell by 1.9% year-on-year. Construction output rose 2.3% year-on-year.
The largest declines in industry sales were seen in industries such as coal and lignite mining (down 19.0%); production of wood, cork, straw and wicker products (down 16.1%), among others. Production on an annual basis, on the other hand, increased for, among others, the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (up 17.2%)
Productivity in industry in the period I-IX 2023 declined on average by 1.3% y-o-y and the largest decline was seen in coal and lignite mining (down 20.5%). In contrast, the highest increase in productivity was in the production of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (by 14.3%).
The above summary does not include data for the production of leather and leather goods and the production of coke and refined petroleum products (the CSO has stopped publishing them).
Analyzing the data for I-IX 2023, it is worth mentioning that the performance of industrial production in September was still below the levels recorded a year ago. This also applies to industrial new orders and wholesale trade (here the results are affected by, among other things, the high base from a year ago).
Source: The Polish Chamber of Commerce
