„Lower Silesia is among the leaders in socio-economic development among Polish voivodeships. This is indicated by a number of measurable indicators, such as GDP and GDP per capita, the level of economic activity, and business investment. The region's high position is also indicated by the position of Lower Silesian universities in national rankings, the number of units conducting R&D activities, the total amount of R&D expenditure, the number of academic staff and students, and the high quality of human capital.
The region is characterized by high economic dynamism and entrepreneurship. With approximately 2.8 million inhabitants, nearly 411,000 businesses are registered, representing approximately 8.5% of the total number of businesses in Poland. The entrepreneurship index (number of businesses per 1,000 inhabitants) is 7.0, compared to the Polish average of 7.2. This places the region fourth in Poland. The region also ranks fourth among voivodeships in terms of the number of large enterprises.
Lower Silesia is one of the most important R&D centers in Poland. Most indicators examining the research sector rank the region among the top five in the country. The region is also one of the leaders in Poland in terms of R&D spending. Furthermore, in recent years, spending growth has outpaced the national growth rate. In 2023, 1.56% of GDP was spent on R&D in Poland, compared to 1.67% in Lower Silesia. Nearly 10% of all R&D employees in Poland were employed in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, ranking the region third in the country (behind the Masovian and Lesser Poland Voivodeships).
The region is a major domestic producer of useful minerals, including copper, silver and associated raw materials, lignite, natural gas, crushed and cut stones (igneous and metamorphic rocks accounting for 93% of domestic production), and many unique rock raw materials (e.g., bentonite, kaolin, feldspar, mica schist, magnesite). It is characterized by rich and diverse documented reserves of useful minerals, particularly rock, energy, and metallic raw materials, as well as medicinal and thermal waters. Lower Silesia has documented 26.8% of geological resources and 31.9% of industrial lignite, 99% of copper ore resources and 98% of silver resources, 95% of magmatic and metamorphic crushed and cut stones, and sand and gravel resources among the highest quality in Poland. Moreover, the voivodeship has the only or most important resources of rock raw materials in the country, such as: white-burning ceramic clays (100%), stoneware ceramic clays, fire-resistant clays (80%), clay raw materials for construction ceramics, kaolin raw materials (100%), feldspar raw materials (100%), mica schists, quartzite schists, magnesites (100%), bentonite raw materials (>50%), gypsum and anhydrite, glass raw materials.”