The market economy develops cyclically, which is reflected in the wave of economic activity. The reasons for the breakdown in economic activity in each cycle are different, but the course of the cycle is similar. The cause of the recent crisis in the global economy was the collapse of the real estate market in the United States. After about two years, the tendencies of the decline in production in highly developed economies were stopped and they entered the phase of a slow recovery. The Polish economy is part of the global economy. Under these conditions, the external environment affects the development processes in our economy. Therefore, when analyzing the development trends of the Polish economy, attention should be paid to factors that affect the level of economic activity in the main centers of the global economy, in the United States and the European Union. Against this background, the development trends of the Polish economy and prospects for its further development were analyzed.