Poland's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell 2.1 points to 45.9 in April (chart), the economic intelligence company S&P Global said on May 2.

The reading missed the consensus, which assumed a modest retreat of 0.2 points to 47.8. The indicator has now lingered below the 50-point mark separating contraction from growth for two full years. 

Once again, weak demand conditions at home and abroad drove the index’s decline in April, according to S&P Global.

“New orders, exports and employment all fell at faster rates than in March. Output contracted at an unchanged rate, although the 12-month outlook retreated further from February's recent peak,” S&P Global’s economics director Trevor Balchin said.

"Price pressures remained weak, with input costs posting a renewed decline and output prices falling for the thirteenth straight month,” Balchin also said.

As the April reading extends the waiting time for a sustained recovery in Poland’s manufacturing sector, the green shoots might be in sight already.

Although the Polish data generally weakened in April, the flash Eurozone figures provided a glimmer of hope that demand from European markets may pick up soon. Overall output rose for the second month running in the Eurozone, while Poland’s single most important economic partner Germany returned to growth.

Poland’s industrial sector – covering manufacturing, energy production, mining and quarrying, as well as water and waste management – declined in March, as output fell 6% year on year  after a gain of 3.3% y/y the preceding month, Poland’s statistical office GUS said in late April.

Meanwhile, Poland's producer price index (PPI) declined 9.6% y/y in March, following a revised fall of 10% y/y in February, GUS also said.

GUS will publish April industrial production and PPI data in late May.