CHANGES IN PRODUCTIVITY OF SELECTED BRANCHES OF THE POLISH FOOD SECTOR IN THE YEARS 2004-2013

The aim of this paper is to specify changes in productivity of the Polish food sector as a whole and its selected branches in the years 2004–2013. Analyses were conducted based on the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). In the MPI model the following variables were adopted: the output – sold production (million PLN), inputs – average number of employees (thous) and gross value of fi xed assets (million PLN). It was confi rmed that productivity of the Polish food sector improved in the years 2004–2013. Results of analyses showed that changes in technical effi ciency had a greater eff ect on changes in food sector productivity in Poland – particularly in the fi rst period following Poland’s accession to the EU and starting from 2009, i.e. the outbreak of the economic crisis. Technical change had a considerable eff ect on the improvement of productivity in the food sector only in the years 2006– 2008. The greatest mean annual improvement in productivity in the analysed period was observed in meat and milk processing and beverage production