Ukraine posts US$9,700 per capita income in 2019, almost 72% down from Poland – IMF data

Ukraine's per capita income (PCI), taking into account the real purchasing power of the national currency in 2019, stood at US$9,700, which was 71.5% and 50% down from neighboring Poland (US$33,991) and Belarus (US$20,600) respectively.

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Ukraine only slightly outranks Morocco with PCI at US$9,200, Rzeczpospolita wrote, referring to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, as reported by the Ukrainian media outlet European Pravda on February 25.

Poland, after the fall of communism and the beginning of market reforms 30 years ago, was ahead of yet another country in Western Europe in 2019 in terms of per capita income, namely Portugal (US$33,665). Moreover, Poland outranked Greece four years ago.

In 2020, the Portuguese economy will be developing at a 1.6% rate against Poland's 3.1%, according to the IMF's forecasts.

Hungary advanced up in the ranking leaving Portugal and Poland behind. "The Czech Republic (with PCI at US$38,800) approached Italy (US$40,400). The Italian government has failed to overcome economic stagnation for four decades, while the Czech economy has developed quite fast. However, reaching the level of Spain (US$41,600), which became richer than Italy last year, will be a big challenge for the countries of our region," the publication says.

What is more, Russia (US$29,600) slid below Greece (US$30,200), while Belarus (US$20,600) turned out to be poorer than Mexico (US$20,900).

As was earlier reported, Ukraine needs to ensure a 6% economic growth annually within 20 years to reach the current level of Poland's economy. Partial reforms and GDP growth at an average rate of 4% will solve the problem only by half.