Poland transforms from post-communist wreck to European growth champion in 35 years

Описание: (9 Mar 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Warsaw, Poland - 3 October 1980
1. Wide of people walking and gathering in a busy urban area in Warsaw

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Poznan, Poland - 29 January 2026
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Claudia Ciobanu, Associated Press:
++PARTIALLY OVERLAPPED BY SHOTS 1 AND 3 TO 20++
"At the end of the communist period, in 1989, the Polish economy was in tethers. Its GDP per capita was one of the lowest in the region. Three and a half decades later, the Polish economic is one of the fastest growing in the European Union. Last year, it hit the $1 trillion mark for the first time. So, what made it possible to have such a dramatic change in such a short period of time? Poland joined the European Union at a time when the EU was very willing to invest in its new members. And Poland, the good student, proved extremely efficient at absorbing EU funds and internalizing European norms and institutions. Size also played a role. By European standards, Poland is a large country, and its significant internal market helped it cushion lows during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID pandemic. The Polish population is well-educated and entrepreneurial. And in recent years, Ukrainian migrants helped ease labor shortages at a time when the population is aging. Looking ahead, experts are nevertheless saying that Poland needs to innovate more if it wants to continue growing at this rate."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Warsaw, Poland - 3 October 1980
3. Wide of people gathered on a busy street amidst traffic
4. Mid of workers sitting in a circle inside a car factory
5. Wide of car assembly line in an industrial plant

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Poznan, Poland - 29 January 2026
6. Wide of workers assembling buses in a factory
7. Mid of worker inspecting the interior of a bus during assembly
8. Wide of workers assembling buses in a bustling factory

ASSOCIATED PRESS
++GRAPHIC++ ++OVERLAID WITH PREVIOUS SHOT++
9. Animated graphic showing the gross domestic product from 1995 till 2024

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Poznan, Poland - 29 January 2026
10. Wide of commuters boarding a tram
11. Wide of workers assembling buses on a production line
12. Hardware parts in bus factory

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Poznan, Poland - 28 January 2026
13. Complex network cables in a server room
14. Blurred blinking lights from servers
15. Wide of server racks in a data center

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Poznan, Poland - 29 January 2026
16. Various of Poznan cityscape
17. Man buying food on the street
18. Mid of pedestrians walking along a city street
19. City shot Poznan with traffic
20. Polish flag waving against a brick building
STORYLINE:
When communism fell, Poland was in economic ruins.

In 1989-90, its workers were paid one-tenth of what average West Germans earned.

Flour and sugar were rationed by a government that was broke.

Obsolete factories littered the landscape and young people headed west.

But in just 35 years, Poland has gone from poor to prosperous, joining the world's biggest and richest countries.

Last year, it edged past Switzerland as the 20th largest economy, with over 1 trillion U.S. dollars in annual output.

Solaris, a company founded in 1996 in Poznan by Krzysztof Olszewski, is one of the leading manufacturers of electric buses in Europe, with a market share of around 15%.

Its story encapsulates many of the factors behind Poland's success.

Educated as an engineer under the communist government, Olszewski opened a car repair shop where he used spare parts from West Germany to fix Polish cars.




























Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...