When the shifts change, hundreds of workers stream out of the new television factory in Mlawa owned by LG Electronics, the South Korean company. Its managers may be surprised to learn that LGE’s Polish workers may well be more productive than their counterparts in South Korea.

A report by the Conference Board, a research company, has found that Poland’s productivity growth accelerated by 7.7 per cent last year, second to China and much higher than the rich economies of western Europe or the US. It calculated that gross domestic product per hour worked was $19.90 for Polish workers, outpacing the $19.40 for South Korea.