Podkarpackie Voivodship is situated in south-eastern Poland. It borders to the north and west with the Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie and Lubelskie Voivodships; to the south with Slovakia and to the east with Ukraine. It covers three separate physiographic regions. In the northern part there is the Sandomierz Basin, in the middle the Carpathian Foothills, in the south the Beskids, divided into the Beskid Niski and the Bieszczady. The north-eastern corner is situated within the Roztocze range.
What distinguishes Podkarpackie Voivodship from other regions of Poland is its specialisation in aviation. The influence of aviation and space industries on practical sectors and branches of economy is very important. Generated technologies, materials and other solutions very quickly find application in other areas of the economy - aviation and aerospace are therefore the engine driving the growth of the region's economy. The region is characterised by a high concentration of aviation industry companies, pilot training centres, and many research and development institutions, as well as developed educational and training facilities.
The second important branch developing dynamically is the automotive industry. It includes all enterprises and organisations involved in the design, development, production, marketing and sale of motor vehicles, including the production of parts for them. In turn, the automotive industry does not include the sector associated with the ongoing maintenance and repair of vehicles or the network of petrol stations. The smart specialisation adopted by the Voivodship is a set of activity areas and solutions related to the production of motor vehicles.
The analysis of the economy of Podkarpacie shows that the automotive industry is characterized by one of the highest shares in production and employment, growth dynamics exceeding the average for the voivodship, as well as a high level of expenditure on innovative activities. Share of net revenues from the sale of products, goods and materials for export in the period 2014-2018, it recorded slight fluctuations in net revenues from the sale of products, goods and materials in the automotive industry. The automotive sector shows the share of exports at a level almost three times higher than in the voivodship and the country.
The epidemic state introduced in March and a number of restrictions that were associated with it rapidly affected the results of sold production of industry. In April 2020, industrial output sold recorded a deep decline, both on an annual and monthly basis. In the Podkarpackie Voivodship, industrial output sold was (at constant prices) 35.0% lower than in April 2019, and compared to March it decreased by 32.5%. From May to October, an increase in dynamics can be seen both in the country and in the Voivodship. In contrast, the last two months of 2020 saw a slowdown in this growth.
For the whole of 2020, industrial output sold was 6.4% lower, (nationally by 1.0%) than in 2019, including a 6.7% decline in manufacturing. The decrease in production occurred in 16 departments of industry (out of 31 occurring in the Voivodship), including in three departments with the largest share of sold production i.e. the production of other transport equipment, machinery and equipment and the production of chemicals and chemical products.
The long-term effects of the pandemic are currently difficult to predict. Some companies, in his opinion, will have to react to the decline in demand by adjusting the level of order fulfillment to the new market conditions. Other employers will cooperate and attract new contractors. Some of the larger companies try their hand at opening new types of production or services, in short test series, e.g. of goods that are popular on the domestic market or new customers abroad. For the automotive industry, a new growth pole may turn out to be the production of modern public transport vehicles on the so-called magnetic cushion or microelectronics.
In the Regional analysis prepared by Center for Statistical Research and Education of the Central Statistical Office with the cooperation of RRDA, you will find a lot of interesting facts on economic changes in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship during the pandemic and before it.
Polish Regional Analysis may be found here: https://www.interregeurope.eu/foundation/library/
