Analysis of incomes of the agricultural and non-agricultural population in Poland between 2000-2007

Abstract

The household budget studies made by the Central Statistical Office, confirm general trends occurring in the economy, observed pursuant to the macroeconomic data. In the period of 2000-2003, the income of the farming population in Poland decreased by about 1.5―2.0%, while in the non-farming group there was an increase of about 8.1%. The structure of income has changed. The share of the additional revenue supporting workers' budgets decreased from 19.6% in 2000 to 17.7% in 2007. The opposite trend has been observed in farmers' households. Additional revenue increased from 20.8% up to 22.5% of a total revenue. In the years 2000-2007, the real income of fanners increased by 60%, retirees and pensioners by 17%, and workers with less than 12%. Faster income growth in agriculture compared with the rest of the economy, caused a reduction of income differences between agricultural and non-agricultural population. While fanners' income in 2000 was lower by about 30.6% than the workers' income, this indicator declined to 7.4% in 2007. It is difficult to decide today whether the reduction of the differences in income is a permanent trend in the Polish economy. It seems, that the ongoing recession can reverse this trend.