Record number of start ups in Poland

Photo: Glowimages

According to the Centre for Economic Information (COIG), some 184,000 firms were registered in the first half of 2013. Some 455 of these went bankrupt.

The statistics mark an over 10 percent increase in the number of new firms as compared with the second half of 2012.

Witold Michalek of Poland's Business Centre Club (BCC) notes that some of the founders of firms may have been prodded to set up companies by employers aiming to avoid having too many staff on permanent contracts.

This practice lowers the taxation and social security costs of parent firms.

“But I think the main reason [for the increased number of firms] is that there is a better economic climate for starting one's own business,” Michalek told the Puls Biznesu daily.

Poland's GDP growth rate has been slowing in recent years, with the World Bank putting estimates for 2013 at 1 percent, as opposed to 1.9 percent in 2012.

However, consumer spending has been rising, with statistics for July marking a 4.3 increase on the same month last year. (nh)