The Warsaw Enterprise Institute has published the fifth edition of the Wealth of Nations Index, a unique Index that measures the quality of public spending in addition to GDP.

Countries belonging to the European Union and the OECD are taken into account. The places on the podium are occupied by Ireland, Switzerland and Norway, which this year managed to overtake the United States.

Usually, when talking about the development of countries, we focus on Gross National Product. Those who are not satisfied with this and believe that development is not just growth, point to other indices, such as the Human Development Index, or The World Happiness Report.

The index, developed for the Warsaw Enterprise Institute by economist Karol Zdybel, presents a broad understanding of the concept of development. On the one hand, attention is paid to the dynamics of private spending per capita, on the other to the quality of public spending in 8 categories (defence, security, infrastructure, higher education, health care, environment) and also screened through the level of freedom of assembly, a litmus test of democracy.

The assessment of the quality of public spending is the result of a synthesis of the results of available component indices, such as the Legatum Prosperity Index, and the Global Peace Index. Below are the report's key findings:

  • Western Europe stagnating:Most of Europe's rich countries have failed to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic—Germany (92 points), Austria (94.2 points), Denmark (103.4 points), and the UK (81.2 points) have all seen declines or stagnation.
  • Poland has overtaken its neighbours:according to the WNI 2025, Poland is now ahead of Slovakia, Hungary, and Latvia in national wealth.
  • The EU average is stagnating:the average score of EU countries in the WNI has hardly increased since 2021, stopping at around 75 points.
  • Central Europe drags down EU scores:growth in the average WNI of EU countries is generated mainly by Central European countries (e.g., Romania, Czech Republic, Croatia), not “old” Europe.
  • Czech Republic and Estonia temporarily down:Despite previous successes, the Czech Republic and Estonia recorded declines in the 2025 edition compared to the previous year.
  • Spain and Croatia as models of efficiency:Although Poland has similar public spending, Spain (66.6 points in spending quality) and Croatia (65.8 points) are doing much better in managing public finances efficiently.
  • Weak rebound in major economies:Belgium, Spain, France, and Finland still have lower scores than before the pandemic, despite the passage of years since the crisis.
  • Global challenges on the horizon: The U.S. trade war announcement could further damage the private sector worldwide, including in Europe, exacerbating already existing problems.
  • Lessons for the future: responsible public policy and improving spending quality will be key to maintaining Poland's WNI growth momentum.