Poland: Is it a good country for doing business? Is it easy to be an entrepreneur there? What about its political culture? Is Poland an international, open country? Answers to those questions and more are found in our summary of reports, studies, and rankings on Poland’s national performance, country brand, and reputation, drawing insights from data provided by leading rankings and indices.
Let’s take a closer look at:
- Poland’s soft power and brand strength
- Its appeal to skilled labour, investors, and visitors
- The country’s global contribution to peace and wellbeing
- How well it fares in terms of happiness and sustainability
Poland’s Soft Power and Country Brand Strength
In the Global Soft Power Index 2023 by Brand Finance, Poland secured the 33rd spot, sitting behind Brazil (31st) and Luxembourg (32nd). Impressively, Poland has jumped seven positions from last year’s index, with its score rising from 38.2 in 2022 to 45.1 in 2023.
In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, Poland secures the 35th position, behind Mexico (33rd) and Egypt (34th). Notably, Poland does best in two key areas: social purpose (21st), examining animal, human, and property rights; care for the environment; commitment to climate goals and social justice; gender and racial equality; religious freedom; trustworthiness; and distribution of political power; and quality of life (22nd), assessing the job market, affordability, economic stability, family friendliness, income equality, political stability, safety, and educational and health systems. However, Poland dropped three positions from 2022, with the lowest scores in the movers and cultural influence factors.
The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brand Index (NBI) calculates its ranking based on averaging the scores of six different factors: exports, governance, tourism, culture, people, and immigration. According to the NBI 2023 ranking, Poland secures the 28th position, a drop of two positions since 2022.
How Attractive for Talent?
The Expat Insider 2023 ranks Poland in 35th position out of 53 countries, below France (33rd) and Hungary (34th). However, Poland ranks 15th in the Travel and Transit metric as well as in the Work Culture and Satisfaction metric.
Poland, classified as a high-income country within the European regional group, currently holds the 37th position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Moreover, Poland performs most remarkably in the VT Skills pillar, where it holds the 22nd position, while its main challenge is the Retain pillar, where it ranked 73rd.
Appeal to Investors, Trade and Travel
As per the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2023, Poland ranks 14th for FDI inflows, a drop of one position from the previous ranking.
The Bloom Consulting biannual Country Brand Ranking Trade Edition 2022-2023 assesses investment-related variables, emphasising perceptions of a country’s trade-specific brand and evaluating branding performance. Regionally, Poland placed 12th, a jump of one position from the previous ranking, thanks to its high CBS Rating © and FDI inflow scores. Globally, Poland entered the top 25, jumping two positions to the 24th spot this year.
In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places Poland at the 45th global position. Regionally, Poland now holds the 20th position, experiencing a drop of two positions, sitting below Russia (18th) and Finland (19th).
In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, Poland secured the 43rd position, showcasing an increase of seven positions from the previous rankings. Currently, it sits just behind Italy (41st) and Slovenia (42nd), while surpassing Chile (44th) and Cyprus (45th).
In terms of specific characteristics, Poland’s economic performance jumped four positions to the 25th spot in 2023. It holds the 54th position for government efficiency, experiencing a jump of two positions compared to 2022. Lastly, Poland jumped fifteen positions to the 43rd position for business efficiency and holds the 39th spot for infrastructure, jumping four positions since 2022.
According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, Poland belongs to the last group, Emerging Innovators. Poland’s performance has increased by 13.3% points during the period between 2016 and 2023. Its strengths are: design applications, enterprises providing ICT training, job-to-job mobility of HRST, trademark applications, and population with tertiary education. Its weaknesses are: doctorate graduates, PCT patent applications, environment-related technologies, business process innovators, and innovation expenditures per employee.
How “Good” is Poland?
In the CAF World Giving Index 2023, Poland secured the last position (142nd), a drastic fall from its 16th position in the 2022 index.
In the Good Country Index, Poland currently holds the 27th position overall, with notable subfactors as follows: Science & Technology (16th), Culture (36th), International Peace & Security (20th), World Order (21st), Planet & Climate (37th), Prosperity & Equality (49th), and Health & Wellbeing (97th). It’s worth mentioning that in 2022, Poland was ranked 23rd, and in 2021, it held the 31st position. While the country has experienced a four-place drop since the 2022 ranking, there has been a significant increase in the Prosperity and Equality, World Order, and International Peace and Security factors.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, Poland ranked in the light blue zone (7-8 range) with a 7.04 out of 10. This is higher than Hungary, which scored 6.54, but lower than Lithuania, which scored 7.31.
The 2022 Corruption Perception Index ranks Poland 45th with a score of 55/100, tying with Dominica and St Lucia. Poland’s score has dropped by one since 2021.
Peace and Happiness
The Global Peace Index 2023 ranks Poland 29th, dropping six positions from last year’s index. Poland sits behind Latvia (27th) and Sweden (28th). Poland falls under the high sector of the ‘State of Peace’ spectrum as defined by the Institute for Economics & Peace. Poland is positioned 20th regionally amongst its fellow European countries, led by Iceland and Denmark.
The Institute for Economics & Peace similarly ranks Poland within the no impact (green) zone in terms of ‘Impact of Terrorism’ in the 2022 Global Terrorism Index. Poland ranks 93rd, tying in last place with many other countries. Meanwhile, the World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year average 2020–2022, ranks Poland 49th.
Sustainability
The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Poland 46th, below Namibia and Singapore, who tied in 44th place.
The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks Poland in 9th position. It highlights that Poland, although ranking in the top ten, continues to face some challenges. However, the No Poverty factor has achieved the status of SDG achievement and continues to be on track. The Life on Land factor has also reached SDG achievement status and experiences moderate increases. Meanwhile, the Clean Water and Sanitation, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities, and Partnerships for the Goals factors are all on track.
Last updated in November 2023. More country profiles here.
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Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended to provide a general overview of Poland’s economic and cultural landscape and facilitate comparison over time. While we strive for accuracy and completeness, we are not responsible for any typographical errors or inaccuracies. The data is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Users should verify any information before relying on it for decision-making purposes.
