Polish economy grew 4.3 per cent in 2011

WARSAW, POLAND: New government data show that Poland's economy grew by a brisk 4.3 per cent in 2011, an acceleration over the already strong 3.9 per cent growth rate of the previous year.

The figures, released on Friday by the state Central Statistical Office, underline how strongly the economy has continued to grow in Poland, the largest of the ex-communist countries now in the European Union.

Though Poland's economy has proven unusually resilient, even growing when the rest of the EU fell into recession in 2009, the pace of its growth is expected to slacken this year to around 2.5 due to the new financial troubles in Europe.

Other statistics released on Friday show that the jobless rate in December jumped to 12.5 per cent in December from 12.1 per cent in November.