Koniunktura w polskim rolnictwie na tle sytuacji ogólnogospodarczej w latach 1996-2012

The paper presents the general economic background of the situation in Polish agriculture in the period 1996-2012. On the basis of the growth cycle theory there were separated phases of the economic growth and decline in Poland. Selected indicators of the general economic climate were compared with indicators of the situation in Polish agriculture. The carried out comparative analysis was a base for answers to the question: how the shaping of the economic situation and trends in agriculture are interdependent and how Polish accession to the European Union have an impact on the change in the nature of this relationship. The study shows that observed in the whole Polish economy overall trends are similar to those exposed in the agricultural sector, it being noted that the economic and financial situation of individuals functioning within agriculture are characterized by much higher volatility than the situation of market participants in general. In the entire period from 1996 to 2012, changes in the level of income of the population of our country, which is one of the main criteria for assessment of the general economic downturn, were much more stable in the case of workers’ households than farmers’. The decisive role in this regard has played high volatility of prices of sold agricultural products correlated with dynamics of GDP and foreign trade. In the study there were used econometric modeling and statistical analysis. The main source of the used data were the statistical yearbooks of the Republic of Poland of the Central Statistical Office