Poland overtakes Russia in value of exports for first time

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Poland has surpassed Russia in terms of the value of exports for the first time on record, new World Bank data for 2023 show. They also reveal that Poland has risen to become the 19th largest exporter in the world.

Poland’s exports of goods and services reached $469 billion last year (up from $433.7 billion in 2022), compared to $466.6 billion in sanctions-hit Russia (down from $640.9 billion in 2022).

The size of Russia’s economy ($2.02 trillion in 2023) remains over twice as large as Poland’s ($811.23 billion) and the Russian population (144 million) is almost four times larger than Poland’s (37 million).

However, Russia has seen its exports slump since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the resultant international sanctions placed on it, while Poland’s long-term rise in exports has accelerated since 2020.

Both countries’ exports began to grow rapidly in the early 2000s, boosted by global economic growth. While Poland’s rose fairly steadily, Russia’s figures have been more bumpy as they are largely based on oil and gas exports, commodities with high price volatility.

Russia’s rise halted for several years after 2014, when it annexed Crimea. Later, its exports briefly peaked at $640.9 billion in 2022, likely due to increased purchases by buyers who wanted to obtain Russian raw materials before the sanctions imposed on the country after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine took full effect.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s closest allies during the war and also one of the strongest advocates for implementing tougher sanctions on Russia.

Last year, the world’s biggest exporter was China ($3.5 trillion), followed by the United States ($3.1 trillion) and Germany ($2.1 trillion). Poland ranked 19th, just behind Belgium ($535 billion) and Spain ($616 billion).