War Refugees Bring Poland Economic Benefit Along With Costs
- Polish GDP benefits from accepting 3 million refugees
- Demand from millions of new consumers also adds to inflation
Ukrainian refugees board a train to Warsaw, in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, in April.
Photographer: Wojtek Radwanski/FP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
The flight of millions of Ukrainians from Russia’s invasion has raised financial costs for the countries on the European Union’s eastern border that are taking them in, but the case of Poland shows that providing shelter can also bring economic benefits.
The EU’s largest eastern economy expanded at the faster pace than Hungary and Romania, its other two post-communist peers, in the first quarter of the year after the country accepted more than 3 million refugees since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded in February.