MALOPOLSKIE VOIVODSHIP - Economy
Malopolskie Voivodship has an economy that is moderately developed, generating 7.4% of GDP in 2000, against 7.3% in 1995. Calculated per capita, GDP amounted to EUR 3 948 and was 10.7% lower than the national average. This ratio ranked the voivodship ninth in Poland. Services have the largest share in the creation of gross value added - 62.9%, the share of industry and construction amounted to 34.1%, and agriculture - 3.0%. Labour productivity, measured by gross value added per employed person, is 16.2% lower than the national average.
Subregions of Malopolskie Voivodship are very differentiated. The least economically developed is Nowosadecki subregion, with a GDP per capita 42% lower than the national average and labour productivity approximately 56% of the average level in Poland. The most economically developed subregion in the voivodship is Kraków city with a 43.2% share in the creation of the voivodship's GDP and a level of GDP per capita 68.5% higher than the national average as well as a 34.4% higher labour productivity.
Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of the voivodship. Agricultural land covers a total area of 880.8 thousand ha, corresponding to 4.8% of total agricultural land in the country.
Of the voivodship's total agricultural land, arable land accounted for 67.8%, meadows 20.3%, pastures 9.3% and orchards 2.6%. In agriculture, small and medium size farms dominate. The average area of agricultural land in a private farm was 3.2 ha, the smallest in Poland, with a national average of 7.1 ha.
The area of land under cultivation in Malopolskie Voivodship amounted to 515.5 thousand ha, or 4.2% of the area under cultivation in the country. More than 45% of land under cultivation was designated for cereals, of which approximately 24.3% for wheat, while 17.2% was designated for potatoes. In 2001, yields of the main crops were lower than the national average.
The stock of cattle per 100 ha of agricultural land was somewhat higher than the national average, while the stock of pigs was significantly lower. The production of animals for slaughter (calculated in meat) accounted for 4.0% of domestic production, and the production of milk - 6.1%.
In 2001, Malopolskie Voivodship generated 5.0% of the country's gross agricultural output and 4.2% of market agricultural output.
In December 2001, 266.0 thousand entities of the national economy were registered in the voivodship, of which 78.1% were natural persons conducting economic activity. Of the 2.2 thousand registered companies with foreign capital participation, the majority was located in Kraków.
Malopolskie Voivodship generated 6.8% of domestic sold production of industry in 2001. The structure of industry, by divisions, is significantly differentiated. Other than traditional divisions (metallurgy, mining, the chemical and tobacco industries) the cable, telecommunications, computer, pharmaceutical, printing and building materials industries are playing an increasingly larger role.
Investment outlays borne in the voivodship (EUR 2 151 million) accounted for 6.5% of total outlays in the country. Calculated per capita, these outlays amounted to EUR 666, which was 22% less than the national average.
Per capita expenditures on research and development activity in the voivodship amounted to EUR 39 and were 12.7% higher than the national average.
The region has well-developed transportation networks with 1 149 km of railway lines. The density of the railway network was higher than the national average - 7.6 km per 100 km2 against a national average of 6.4 km per 100 km2 (4th place).
The length of hard surface public roads totalled 21.7 thousand km, of which 16.9 thousand km had an improved surface.
An airport is located in Balice, near Kraków, which provides international, national and regional services.
In terms of tourism, Malopolskie Voivodship is one of the most attractive regions of the country. The most popular tourist destinations include the city of Kraków, the salt mine in Wieliczka, Museum of Martyrdom in Oswiecim-Brzezinka (Auschwitz-Birkenau) and the ruins of castles in Czorsztyn, Niedzica and Ojców. However, not only the rich history and unique historical landmarks attract tourists to this region of Poland. Due to the differentiated terrain, and therefore climate, Malopolskie Voivodship also offers tourists many forms of active recreation. Among the most popular are hiking, bicycling, boating, skiing, fishing as well as rock and mountain climbing. The best conditions for participating in these activities are found in Podhale, the southern portion of the region. Tourist attractions in the region are supported by well-developed tourist accommodation infrastructure, ranking Malopolskie Voivodship second in the country in terms of the number of collective tourist accommodation establishments and third in terms of the number of beds.
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