The Polish shadow economy amounted to 18-20% of GDP in 2020.

The estimated size of the shadow economy in Poland during the pandemic in 2020 was 18-20% of GDP, according to the Global Compact report "Counteracting the shadow economy in Poland 2020-2021".

"According to Global Compact, the shadow economy remains at the level of 18-20% of GDP and this is a relatively realistic estimate. It should be noted that the HoReCa market itself (Hotel, Restaurants, Catering) was worth PLN 32.7 billion in 2019, thus, the problems of this one market during a pandemic could raise the estimated value of the shadow economy by almost 1.5 percentage points. However, we know that not only this industry suffered during the pandemic and moved partially to the shadow economy," according to the report.

Global Compact made a reservation that the estimates are based on incomplete data, as the precise determination of the scale and size of the shadow economy during the pandemic last year.

Research for 130 countries shows that 10 percent. an increase in the intensity of the epidemic corresponds to an increase in the informal economy by 2.1 percent. The report indicated that companies that did not meet the formal requirements to receive support from the anti-crisis shield "had no motivation to respect other rules, so having a choice - whether to terminate the activity or go (temporarily or not) to gray zones, in order to maintain business and jobs, it seems that many of them had no choice but to choose the shadow economy."

"Another important trend in the fight against the shadow economy is the slowdown in the production of the law. Let me remind you that 27,118 pages of typescript of the new law were produced at the end of 2017. This was less than in 2016, when 31,906 pages had been written. In 2020, the downward trend continued and it was only 14,900 pages of the new law. According to the Grant Thornton survey, this is the lowest result in 12 years and 31 percent lower than in the previous year. Unfortunately, the shortcomings of law-making in Poland remain unchanged. Draft legal acts are often drafted in a hurry, often excluding in-depth industry and social consultations or discussions with specialists in a given field. Based on a study conducted for 7 years, the average period of work on the act in 2020 is only 77 days. in regulations that are carefully used by economic mafias and representatives of the shadow economy. Good law should be created on the basis of a wise principle, hurry slowly, especially when the works concern regulations that are a tool for counteracting the shadow economy in the economy," commented Kamil Wyszkowski, representative and executive director of UN Global Compact Network Poland, quoted in the report.

The report was prepared based on data and source materials as of June 21, 2021.

Source: Global Compact and ISBnews