The demographics of Poland constitute all demographic features of the population of Poland including population density, ethnicity, education level, the health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.
As of 31 December 2023, the population of Poland was 37,636,508,[1] while the usually resident population was 36,620,970.[2] The population has exhibited a negative growth rate of −0.34% per year. The population density was 120 people per square kilometer. The proportion of the population residing in urban areas was 59.45%, a figure that has been declining as a consequence of suburbanization. The sex ratio was 107 women per 100 men, 112 per 100 in urban areas, and 101 per 100 in rural areas. The median age was nearly 43 years (over 41 years for males and over 44 years for females).[1]
According to the 2021 census by the Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS), as of March 31, 2021, Poland had an official population of 38,036,118,[3] a decrease of 0.9% since the 2011 census, and a usually resident population of 37,019,327,[4] a 2.7% decrease since the 2011 census. The difference between official and usually resident population comes from two different methodologies used by GUS for population counts.[5] In addition, Poland is home to a large number of foreigners, most of whom are not counted towards the official population of the country. As of the 2021 census, there were 1,433,779 of them in Poland.[6]
Poland's population has been growing quickly after World War II, during which the country lost millions of citizens. Population passed 38 million in the late 1980s and has since then stagnated within the 38.0-38.6 million range until the 2020s where the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the baby boom generation starting to die out and a baby boost started to overlap.
In 2018, the average life expectancy was 77.9 years; 74.1 for men and 82 for women. Population distribution is uneven, with densely populated south, moderately populated center and south-east and scarcely populated north.
Ethnically, Poland used to be one of the most multi-ethnic countries in Europe before World War II. It hosted the largest Jewish community in Europe, with Warsaw being the largest concentration of Jews in the world besides New York City. In the eastern parts of the country, Ukrainians and Belarusians often outnumbered Poles, while in the west there were large German communities. After the war, Poland became an ethnically homogeneous country. However, in the last decade Poland witnessed a mass-scale migration to the country, mostly from the neighboring Ukraine and Belarus and increasingly from Central, South Asia and the Middle East.
In connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, as part of the Russo-Ukrainian War, by 2 August 2022, more than 10.4 million Ukrainian refugees left the territory of Ukraine, moving to the countries closest to the west of Ukraine, of which more than 5.1 million people fled to neighboring Poland initially.[7] As of September 2023, 958,120 Ukrainian refugees continue to reside in Poland.[8] They are also not counted towards official or usually resident population.
The population of Poland decreased from more than 35 million in 1939 to less than 24 million in 1946. Of that, around 6 million were killed during the Holocaust, Porajmos, and German and Soviet occupations, while the remaining decline can be mostly attributed to altered borders and associated population expulsions of Germans and Ukrainians and resettlement of Poles. As a result, Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous areas in Europe.
Poland's population has been rising consistently in the 1945-1989 period, to 37.96 million in 1989. This growth has been fully fueled by positive natural change (more births than deaths), as net international migration was negative for Poland every year between 1966 and 1989, even despite the socialist government's restrictions on leaving the country for any reason. 578,405 people emigrated from Poland between 1966 and 1989,[10] with the main destination countries being Germany (388,137) and United States (50,453).
Since 1990, Poland's population stagnated at 38.0-38.6 million, with the median age rising due to low birth rates. Official population statistics are a point of debate in Poland,[11] though, with many academics criticizing the Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS) for failing to adapt to successfully capture internal and international migration in particular.[12][5] Already the 2002 census revealed Poland had 402,000 residents less than expected,[13] and subsequent censuses reflected neither the mass emigration of Poles after Poland's admission to the European Union in 2004, nor the mass immigration to Poland since 2014.[14]
Population density in Poland in a 1x1 km square grid, 2021 censusWarsaw is the financial and commercial center of Poland
With an estimated usually resident population of 37 million, Poland is the 5th most-populous country in the European Union and 7th or 8th most-populous one in Europe (depending on how many people live in Ukraine, to which there are various estimates).
Depending on whether one uses the official population or usually resident population as a base, population density of Poland was 122 or 118.7 people per square kilometer (315.9 or 307.4 people per square mile) as of the 2021 census.
Population distribution is unequal. The south, particularly the area along the A4 highway between Gliwice and Rzeszów, is densely populated with over 250 people per square kilometer, while population density drops below 50 people per square kilometer in much of the north of the country. Silesian voivodeship is the densest, at over 350 people per square kilometer.
Poland is relatively rural for a country of its population and economic development. As of the 2021 census, 59.8% of total population lived in cities and town, a percentage well below European average. Poland has historically been a rural and agricultural country and while cities started rapidly growing in neighboring countries in the second half of the 19th century, many Polish cities were artificially limited in growth by the partitioners due to military reasons. After regaining independence in 1918, Polish authorities have started investment in urbanizing the country but it was quickly interrupted by World War II. Therefore, Poland has not started fully urbanizing until after the war.
Urbanization rate has also been declining, at an annual rate of -0.25% between 2015 and 2020 due to suburbanization. In Poland, many suburbs are officially rural areas even despite in reality might resemble a town or even a city neighborhood, such as the Poznań suburb of Koziegłowy.
New high-rises and cultural institutions on the former site of a coal mine near downtown Katowice are a testament to the city's successful economic transformation
In the Eurostat's urban-rural typology, Poland's urbanization rate is slightly higher, however still below the European average.[17] Eurostat estimates 61.2% of Poland's population to live in urban clusters (including 28.9% in dense urban centers), compared to the 70.4% average across the EU.
There is no one official delimitation of metropolitan areas in Poland, and various institutions use different definitions. However, both central institutions and academics are in agreement that the following are the major metropolitan areas of Poland:
Warsaw - the capital and largest city of Poland, with 1.9 million official residents in city proper and 2.7-3.1 million in the metropolitan area. Warsaw is the largest economy in Poland, with the Warsaw Stock Exchange, most major financial institutions, and CEE headquarters of international companies. Warsaw is also an important educational center, with the University of Warsaw, Warsaw School of Economics and Polish Academy of Sciences located there. Warsaw metropolitan area has been growing rapidly in recent decades, eclipsing the previously larger Katowice metropolitan area around 2015.
Kraków's old town is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list and attracts millions of tourists every yearKatowice - the center of the large Katowice urban area, with 2.2-2.7 million in the metropolitan area. Katowice area developed initially as a hub of heavy industry and coal mining. Most of the industry has been closed since. Katowice and some other cities (Gliwice, Tychy) managed to successfully transform its economies becoming a major Polish hubs of information technology, healthcare, education, finance and manufacturing, however many other cities (Bytom, Sosnowiec) experience depopulation. Katowice metropolitan area is bordering Rybnik, Bielsko-Biała and Ostrava metropolitan areas from the south and southwest, which combined create a large Upper Silesian-Moravian metropolitan area with 4.5-5.2 million people.
Kraków - the historical capital of Poland, with 0.8 million residents in city proper and 1.2 million in the metropolitan area. Kraków is one of the main tourist destinations in Poland and a is often called a cultural capital of the country. In recent decades, Kraków emerged as a major international center of back office operations through the SSC/BPO industry. Kraków is also the second largest college city in Poland after Warsaw, with the Jagiellonian University dating back to the Middle Ages.
Łódź - a post-industrial city in the middle of Poland, with 0.7 million people in the city proper and 1-1.2 million in the urban area. Łódź has developed in the 19th century as a center for textile manufacturing, and has been a major manufacturing hub exporting mostly towards Russia and then Soviet Union. Following the market transformations in the early 1990s, most of the industry has collapsed and Łódź struggled with high unemployment rate. In recent years, the city has embraced its industrial past and exploits its location close to Warsaw.
Gdańsk - one of the three major cities of the Tricity area, Gdańsk has around 0.5 million people in the city proper and 1-1.2 million in the urban area. Gdańsk has been the largest cities in Poland for most of the Middle Ages, thanks to its seaside location that fostered trade with other cities and countries in the Baltic and North Seas. Being the largest urban area in the north of the country, Gdańsk benefits from internal migration from neighboring regions.
Poznań - with its 0.5 million residents in city proper and 0.8-1.1 million in the metropolitan area, Poznań emerged as one of the main hubs of trade and manufacturing in Poland. Poznań area is the most entrepreneurial part of Poland, with more than 1 in 10 residents running a business. Poznań is also the prime example of suburbanization in Poland, with the suburbs around as populous as the city proper.
Wrocław - in recent years emerged a major immigration center, with more than 100,000 immigrants residing in the city in addition to its official population of 0.7 million and 0.9-1.1 million in the metropolitan area. Similarly to Kraków, Wrocław is a major tourist destination thanks to its medieval old town, as well as a hub of back office operations particularly in the financial industry.
Szczecin - with a population of 0.4 million in the city proper and 0.7-0.9 million in the metropolitan area (partially stretching to Germany), Szczecin is the second-largest city in the country's north and a major port.
Poland is divided into 16 administrative divisions called voivodeship (województwa). These regions vary vastly in size, as the largest Masovian voivodeship is more than 5 times as populous and 3 times as big as the smallest Opole voivodeship.
Total fertility rate varies significantly by county in Poland. In 2021, Kashubia and Nowy Sącz regions had the highest fertility rate, along with metropolitan areas of Warsaw and Poznań. The lowest, sub-1 fertility was recorded in the Sudetes.
Foreigners in Poland mostly settle in the largest metropolitan areas and in the western part of the country
Historically an emigrant country, Poland has seen an uptick in immigration only after 2014, when the growing economy started attracting foreign workforce, particularly from neighboring Ukraine whose economy has been affected by the 2014 war. Poland's official statistics regarding immigration are scattered and incomplete, and the complicated immigration system with many different routes to immigrate makes assessing true size of immigration to Poland challenging.[46]
Główny Urząd Statystyczny (GUS), the Polish central statistics office, published multiple separate counts of foreign nationals living in Poland for the 2021 census. GUS counted 445,176 foreign nationals towards Poland's usually resident population (1.2% share) and 111,814 foreign nationals towards Poland's official population (0.3% share).[47] It also counted 1,433,779 foreign nationals as temporarily living in Poland (of whom 309,309 lived in Poland for more than 12 months).[48] It is unclear what is the overlap of these populations.
Largest groups of foreigners residents in 2023 [49]
Most foreigners from outside of the European Union immigrate to Poland via various kinds of work schemes. There are two primary types: a work permit (zezwolenie na pracę)[50] and a "declaration of entrusting work to a foreigner" (oświadczenie o powierzeniu wykonywania pracy cudzoziemcowi).
Work permits can be issued to any foreigner from outside of the European Union who is not a refugee and does not already have a residence permit in Poland. Work permits require a labor market test and can be issued for up to 3 years. In 2022, 61.1% of work permits were issued for at least 12 months (including 49.2% issued for 24 months and more) while 38.5% were issued for 6–12 months. Less than 0.4% were issued for less than 6 months.
Work permits issued each year by country of citizenship[51]
In addition to work permits, there is a secondary, easier work migration scheme called declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner. Compared to the work permit system, employers seeking to entrust work to a foreigner do not need to subject the job to a labor market test. However, the work visa is only valid for up to 24 months instead of 36 months. Prior to 2022, the time limits were even stricter, with a 6-month maximum stay that had to be accompanied by a 6-month period outside of Poland until a new work visa could be obtained.[52][53] This system is only open to citizens of 5 post-Soviet countries,[54][55] though business leaders have called for an extension to other post-Soviet republics. Russian citizens are excluded from the program since October 2022,[56] following the invasion of Ukraine.
Between 2007 and 2017, this scheme was known as a declaration of intention to entrust work to a foreigner, though it led to numerous abuses, since after submitting the statement, employers were not obliged to report whether the foreigner had come, and whether they had taken the job. Migrants would sometimes take up different work than previously indicated, use the permit to move to Western Europe, or not arrive at all. On 1 January 2018, it was replaced by the current scheme. Since then, employers are obliged to report the fact that the migrant has taken up employment. The change limits the comparability of the data from the previous periods.[57]
Registered declarations of entrusting work to a foreigner[58]
Since January 2018, employers may hire foreigners on a seasonal work permit, used specifically for agricultural and tourism-related work.[59] In 2020, 60.8% of hired foreigners were women, 42% were under 35 years old, and most worked in Poland from 31 to 90 days.[60] The vast majority of migrants come from Ukraine, as well as Belarus, Moldova, and Georgia, since the law doesn't require the employer to look for potential Polish workers before hiring a foreigner from said countries.
Polish social insurance provider, Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych (ZUS), reported 1,094,148 foreigners paying towards pension insurance in Poland at the end of June 2023, an 8.1% increase since the year prior and more than double compared to 5 years ago. Foreigners were 6.74% of all insured in Poland, an increase from basically 0 just a few years earlier. Ukrainians and Belarusians were the largest groups of foreigners, at 68.4% and 11.1%, respectively. Other nationalities with more than 10,000 people insured in the Polish insurance system include: Georgians (27,434), Indians (18,620), Moldovans (14,654), and Russians (12,709).[61]
Poland has been at the forefront of the Ukrainian refugee crisis from the very beginning, as the country shares a long border with Ukraine and many Ukrainians have family members working or studying in Poland. As the refugee crisis became apparent, Polish authorities waived certain entry restrictions for people fleeing Ukraine, such as requirements for passports[62] and, along with millions of private citizens,[63] organized food and shelter for the arriving refugees. Poland's response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has won the country international praise.[64][65]
As of September 2023, 958,120 refugees remain in Poland, of which 408,884 are under 18. More than 1 in 10 refugees lives in Warsaw (103,476), followed by Wrocław (45,942), Kraków (31,795) and Poznań (24,312).[66] Refugees are not counted towards the official population number by GUS as they are in a temporary residence status and temporary residents are not reported.[67]
Poland was a diverse country before World War II, with only around 2/3 of the population being ethnically Polish. Due to German and Soviet war-time resettlements and genocides, and after-war population transfers, post-war Poland was one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in Europe and stayed that way until the 21st century.
Historically, Poland has been a religiously diverse country. However, after the Holocaust during World War II and population transfers after the war, Poland became predominantly Catholic, with small Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish communities.
Religious makeup of Poland
Roman Catholic (71.30%)
Orthodox (0.40%)
Jehovah's Witnesses (0.29%)
Other denominations (0.58%)
No denomination (6.87%)
Refused to state (20.53%)
Unknown (0.04%)
The most recent census has shown a Catholic majority again, however with a significant drop in self-declared Catholics compared to a census 10 years earlier.[68]Roman Catholics constitute 71.3% of the population, down from 87.58% in 2011.[69]
^In fertility rates, 2.1 and above is a stable population and has been marked blue, 2 and below leads to an aging population and the result is that the population decreases.
^Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation based average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics). As average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not end of the year.
-17,300 (-8.2%)
Ukraine
Belarus
Georgia
India
Russia
Germany
Vietnam
Turkey
Italy
Moldova
Uzbekistan
China
Spain
Romania
France
Bulgaria
Philippines
Azerbaijan
Armenia
South Korea
Nepal
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Colombia
Turkmenistan
Kyrgyzstan
Pakistan
Tajikistan
Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka
Serbia
Kosovo
Ethiopia