vestment. Restructuring and privatization of "sensitive
sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and energy), while recently
initiated, have stalled. Reforms in health care, education, the
pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger
than expected fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance
depends mainly on privatization of Poland's remaining state sector,
the reduction of state employment, and an overhaul of the tax code
to incorporate the growing gray economy and farmers, most of whom
pay no tax. The government's determination to enter the EU has
shaped most aspects of its economic policy and new legislation; in a
nationwide referendum in November 2003, 77% of the voters voted in
favor of Poland's EU accession, now scheduled for May 2004.
Improving Poland's export competitiveness and containing the
internal budget deficit are top priorities. Due to political
uncertainty, the zloty has recently depreciated in relation to the
euro, while currencies of the other euro-zone aspirants have been
appreciating. GDP per capita equals that of the three Baltic states.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $427.1 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3.7% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $11,100 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.1%
industry: 31%
services: 65.9% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
18.4% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
18.4% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 24.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31.6 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.7% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
16.92 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 27.5%, industry 22.1%, services 50.4% (1999)

Unemployment rate:
20% (2003)

Budget:
revenues: $39.13 billion
expenditures: $48.64 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2003)

Public debt:
47.4% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork

Industries:
machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals,
shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles

Industrial production growth rate:
8.6% (2003)

Electricity - production:
135 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
118.8 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity