Poland’s economy grew significantly faster than the European Union average in the second quarter of 2026. GDP increased by 1.0% from the previous quarter and by 3.8% year on year, compared with growth of 0.7% and 1.4% respectively for the EU as a whole. Eurostat’s latest figures also show that Europe performed more strongly than initial estimates suggested.
Eurostat revised second-quarter growth upward. In mid-August, the agency had estimated quarter-on-quarter GDP growth of 0.4% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU. The latest readings are 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. Annual growth was revised to 1.2% in the euro area and 1.4% across the EU.
Poland remains well above the European average
Polish GDP grew by 0.6% quarter on quarter in the first three months of 2026 and accelerated to 1.0% in the second quarter. Annual growth increased from 3.5% to 3.8%.
That means Poland expanded 0.3 percentage points faster than the EU and 0.4 points faster than the euro area on a quarterly basis. The gap is larger year on year: 3.8% in Poland versus 1.4% in the EU and 1.2% in the euro area.
Among countries with available data, Ireland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Sweden and Malta grew faster than Poland quarter on quarter. Ireland’s 10.2% increase should be interpreted cautiously because multinational-company activity has an unusually large impact on its national accounts.
Europe rebounds after a weak start to the year
The second-quarter figures mark a clear acceleration. In the first quarter, the euro-area economy stagnated while EU GDP increased only 0.1%. Growth then accelerated to 0.6% and 0.7% respectively.
Trade was the biggest contributor. Exports rose 3.4% in the euro area and 3.2% in the EU, while imports increased 1.5% and 1.6%. Net exports therefore added 0.9 percentage points to euro-area quarterly GDP growth and 0.8 points to EU growth.
Household consumption also contributed positively, rising 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU and adding 0.2 percentage points to growth. Inventories reduced GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points.
Germany grows while France is flat
Performance among the largest economies remained mixed. Germany grew 0.3% quarter on quarter and 1.0% year on year. France recorded no quarterly growth and expanded 0.5% from a year earlier.
Italy grew 0.2% quarter on quarter and 1.0% annually, while Spain remained one of the stronger large EU economies, with growth of 0.7% quarter on quarter and 2.7% year on year.
Austria was the only EU country in Eurostat’s table to record a quarter-on-quarter contraction, with GDP down 0.1%.
GDP is accelerating faster than employment
The improvement in economic activity has not been matched by equally strong employment growth. The number of employed people increased 0.1% quarter on quarter in both the euro area and the EU. Compared with a year earlier, employment rose 0.5% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU.
Eurostat estimates that 221.4 million people were employed across the EU, including 176.4 million in euro-area countries. Hours worked rose 0.1% quarter on quarter, while annual growth reached 0.7% in the euro area and 0.8% in the EU.
Portugal recorded the strongest quarterly employment increase at 1.0%, followed by the Czech Republic and Malta at 0.9%. Finland saw the largest decline, down 0.8%, while Greece fell 0.4%.
Stronger data matter ahead of the ECB decision
The release comes shortly before the European Central Bank’s September policy meeting. Eurostat recently estimated euro-area inflation at 3.3% in August, up from 2.9% in July. At the same time, the latest GDP figures show stronger activity than previously thought.
The combination of higher inflation and stronger growth reduces the case for monetary easing in the euro area. For Poland, however, the central message is that domestic growth continues to run well above the European average and accelerated further in the second quarter.
Source: ManagerPlus; Eurostat, “GDP main components and employment estimates for the second quarter of 2026”, 7 September 2026.
