Dynamics and directions of changes of business entities

The economic development of Poland and its individual Voivodeships largely depends on the business entities operating in the area. Analyzing them enables a definition of the current situation of the economy and contributes to the ability to forecast future trends. Based on GUS (Statistics Poland) data concerning national economy entities divided by sectors and Voivodeships, an analysis of their structure and dynamics in the years 2008–2016 was conducted. A study of their structure over the years was made possible thanks to the use of indicators of structure and indexes of similarity of structure. The dynamics were analyzed using single-base indexes, chain indexes and the average pace of change. In order to determine the direction of changes, trend functions were estimated. These functions also helped to make forecasts of the number of national economy entities. The objectives of the article are to describe the current condition of the population of economic entities, define the directions of their changes and forecast their future trends.