CASE experts present report for Western Union

The Western Union report "The impact of the money transfers on the Polish economy for the period of 1992 - 2012", prepared by CASE - Center for Social and Economic Research was presented at the premises of Hyatt Regency hotel in Warsaw on July 5th. The report was developed and presented by two CASE experts: Irena Topińska and Katarzyna Piętka-Kosińska. The report was prepared to mark the 20th anniversary of Western Union’s presence in the Polish market.

As the report shows, transfers from abroad, defined as the transfer of earnings of long- and short-term employees, played an important role in the polish Economy, accounting for 0,3-1,7 percent of GDP between 1995 and 2011. In total, between 1995 and 2011 160 billion PLN came to Poland in the form of remittances from people living and working outside the country. Without transfers, according to Katarzyna Piętka-Kosińska "the Polish economy without transfers would have developed more slowly, and this growth would have likely coincided with greater income disparities. Thanks to foreign income in the polish households there has been slight decrease in income disparities and poverty rate".

According to the analysis conducted by CASE experts, the income of foreign residents usually tends to be greater support to people from small towns and villages than from big cities; families living in the provinces located in the western part of the country where migration is substantial -  Opolskie, Pomorskie and Podkarpackie Województwo. Overall, in Poland around 330 000 households (1,2 million people) are supported by remittances from abroad.