WIELKOPOLSKIE VOIVODSHIP - Economy
Economically, the voivodship is one of the strongest regions of the country. On the basis of gross value added, GDP per capita as well as share in the creation of gross domestic product, Wielkopolskie Voivodship is one of the leading regions in the country.
The voivodship?s share in gross domestic product generated in 2000 was 9.3%. GDP per capita, 6.6% higher than the national average, ranks the region third in the country, following Mazowieckie and Slaskie voivodships.
Services had the largest share in the creation of gross value added by kinds of activities in 2000. Their share is systematically growing and is similar to the national average. Industry and construction create approximately 36% of the voivodship?s gross value added against an average of 33.7% in the country. Agriculture has an increasingly smaller share in the creation of gross value added (approximately 6%).
Labour productivity, measured by gross value added per employed person, was 4.0% higher than the national average in 2000.
The economic level of Wielkopolskie Voivodship is territorially differentiated. Poznan city had the largest share (34.1%) in the creation of gross domestic product in 2000. GDP per capita in this subregion was almost 2-times higher than the voivodship average (nationally, only Warsaw city sub-region achieved a higher level). The value of GDP was below this average in the other subregions. Achieved labour productivity was highest in the Poznan city subregion. Gross value added per employed person was 51.3% higher than the voivodship average.
The voivodship?s share in investment outlays was among the highest in the country (9.5% in 2001) and has been growing in recent years. Investment outlays borne on industry (35%), real estate, renting and business activity (15%) as well as trade and repairs (12% of all outlays) dominated. Calculated per capita, the voivodship ranked 3rd following Mazowieckie and Dolnoslaskie voivodships.
Entities of the national economy located in this region (9.3% of all entities registered in the country) are an important element testifying to the economic potential of the region. In 2001, there were 919 entities for every 10 thousand residents of the voivodship. Legal persons and organisational entities without legal personality accounted for 8.4% of their total number in the country, while natural persons conducting economic activity accounted for 9.6%. The voivodship ranked 3rd in the country in terms of the number of companies with foreign capital participation.
The largest number of entities focused their activity in Poznan and Poznanski subregion (61% combined). Among entities registered in the voivodship, entities conducting market services dominated (65%).
Wielkopolskie Voivodship occupies a leading position in Polish agriculture despite the fact that natural conditions (soil, climate) do not differ from the average conditions predominating in the country. In 2001, 10.3% of the country?s agricultural land was located in this voivodship (2nd in the country following Mazowieckie Voivodship). Arable land accounted for 83.2% of agricultural land, and meadows 11.7% (76.4% and 14.1%, respectively, in the country).
Entities of the private sector owned 93% of the agricultural land in the region. The average agriculture land area in farm was 10.1 ha (7.1 ha in Poland).
In 2001, the area of agricultural land devoted to basic cereals accounted for 12% of the total area of basic cereals in the country. The region ranked 1st in the country in terms of sown areas of barley and 2nd in terms of rye. The largest quantity of basic cereals in the country was harvested from fields in the region (14.5% of Poland?s harvests). Wielkopolskie Voivodship dominates in the production of sugar beets, which were cultivated on an area corresponding to 18.3% of the total area of this crop in the country, while harvests accounted for 19.9% of total harvests.
In regard to per ha yields of the main crops, the region is one of the leaders in the country, with a level exceeding the national average more than one dozen percent.
The voivodship plays an important role in animal output. In terms of cattle stock, the region ranked 2nd in the country following Mazowieckie Voivodship (3rd calculated per 100 ha of agricultural land). The stock of pigs was more than 2-times larger than the pig stock of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship, the region ranked 2nd. There were 240 head of pigs for every 100 ha of agricultural land, with a national average of 93 head.
The production of animals for slaughter, calculated in meat, accounted for 22.7% of domestic output and was almost 2-times higher than that noted by Mazowieckie Voivodship, the 2nd leading producer. The voivodship also ranked 2nd, following Mazowieckie Voivodship, in milk production.
In 2001, Wielkopolskie Voivodship generated 14.8% of domestic gross agricultural output and 15.3% of market agricultural output.
Industry in Wielkopolskie Voivodship generated more than 10% of domestic sold production, ranking the voivodship 3rd in the country, following Mazowieckie and Slaskie voivodships. The volume of production has been growing in recent years. Calculated per capita, it was 18% higher than the national average. Agricultural foodstuff processing dominates in the structure of industrial production. The manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers is gaining an increasingly stronger position. The following also have relatively large shares in sold production of industry: manufacture of machinery and equipment, manufacture of furniture, manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus as well as the manufacture of rubber and plastic products.
Expenditures on research and development activity in 2001 totalled EUR 94 million and accounted for 7.1% of outlays borne in the country for this purpose. Calculated per capita, these expenditures were lower than the national average in 2000-2001 (EUR 27, or 80% of the national average).
The growing number of vehicles in Wielkopolskie Voivodship has not been accompanied by investments in the road network. Sections of the motorway located in the voivodship remain under construction. In 2001, of the 23.6 thousand km of hard surface public roads, 89% were roads with an improved surface. The length of hard surface public roads and standard gauge railway lines was similar to the national average (calculated per 100 km2).
The fairly uniform terrain of the Wielkopolska lowland does not lessen the tourist qualities of the region, attractive for historic reasons (origins of the state) as well as for reasons of nature. Tourism and recreation are catered for by tourist accommodation establishments comprising 645 collective tourist accommodation establishments (8.5% of these types of facilities in the country). In 2001, there were somewhat fewer establishments per 1 000 km2 in the region than the average in the country (21.6 against 24.3). The hotel base of the voivodship comprised 96 hotels (including 25 in Poznan), in which 884.7 thousand accommodations were provided.
Development of the tourist infrastructure in the voivodship is territorially differentiated. The greatest number of establishments is located in Poznanski subregion (336), and their density is highest in Poznan.
In 2001, 42.7 thousand beds were available in collective tourist accommodation establishments. During the year, a total of 1.1 million people took advantage of these facilities (54% of whom in hotels, motels and boarding houses). The occupancy rate of beds in collective tourist accommodation establishments was among the lowest in the country.
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