From 2022, the number of immigrants coming to Poland will exceed 300,000. annually. In 2013, it was only 47,000, the threshold was 100,000. per year was exceeded in 2016, and 200 thousand in 2021 – we read in the OECD report. In the world, in 2023, only Germany (1,741 thousand), the USA (1,194 thousand), Spain (1,098 thousand), Japan (620 thousand), Canada (472 thousand), Italy (378 thousand) and South Korea experienced higher immigration than Poland. (480 thousand).
Read also: Does Poland have control over immigration? Scientist: The biggest problem is not borders
However, Poland manages this immigration economically exceptionally well. This can be seen in the example of immigrants from Ukraine, most of whom have been outside their country since the outbreak of the war in 2022, i.e. they have been staying in each of the destination countries for approximately the same length of time.
According to data based on the NBP report from mid-2024. in our country, the employment rate of immigrants from Ukraine was as high as 78%. For comparison, in Germany it was only 31 percent, in Ireland 35 percent and in Spain only 17 percent. However, in Poland it has increased by as much as 7 percentage points since 2023. Even when Olaf Scholz was Chancellor of Germany, in May last year he expressed hope that more Ukrainians would decide to work in his country, because the indicators were unsatisfactory. In Poland it went much better.
Employment rate of Ukrainians in individual countries
|
OECD
The lowest unemployment rate among migrants was recorded in Hungary (3.1%), Poland (3.4%) and the Czech Republic (3.8%), and the highest in Finland (16.7%), Sweden (16.2%) and Greece (15.4%). As you can see, Ukrainians in Poland had a unique opportunity to join normal life and not rely on social welfare. Moreover, the number of immigrants from this country ravaged by war with Russia is still increasing.
“In June 2025, there were an estimated 5.1 million people resettled from Ukraine in OECD countries, up from 5 million in mid-2024. The highest absolute growth over the last year was recorded in Germany (+48,000), Spain (+37,000) and Poland (+36,700). The fastest relative growth was recorded by Slovakia and Spain, which increased the number of resettled citizens Ukraine by over 18 percent. – OECD analysts write in the report.
As you can see, Spain is among the top countries chosen by Ukrainian immigrants, but they rarely find employment there (employment rate is only 17%), so they have to rely on benefits there.
Read also: ECB head: immigration stimulated Europe's economy after the pandemic
“Poland is one of the leading OECD countries accepting foreign temporary workers,” the report added, explaining in part why we have managed immigration so well.
There are not that many immigrants in Poland
In Poland, there are 936,000 immigrants. they constituted over 2.4% in 2024. inhabitants. For comparison, in Luxembourg it is 51.3%, in Australia it is 32.3%, in Switzerland 32.2%, in Ireland 23.3%, in Austria 22.3%, in Iceland 20.7%, in Sweden 20.5%, in Belgium 20%, in Israel 19.3%, in Germany 19.1%, in Spain 18.4 percent, and in Norway 18.2 percent. In terms of numbers, the largest number of immigrants live in the USA – 51.2 million, followed by Germany (15.3 million), Great Britain (10.3 million), France (9 million), Australia (8.2 million) and Spain (8.2 million).
In 2024, the number of asylum applications in Poland doubled to 14.5 thousand. Compared to Germany, which had 230,000. such applications, Spain with 164 thousand and Italy with 151,000, but our numbers are “trace”. Ukrainians made up almost half of those seeking asylum in Poland (6.1 thousand applications), followed by Belarusians (3.6 thousand applications). However, the number of applications from Russia dropped to only 515 in the first half.
Read also: The scientist points out the West's overlooked mistake on immigration. “It was ignored”
Interestingly, Polish citizenship is most often granted to Belarusians, not Ukrainians. In 2023 it was 4.5 thousand. granted citizenship compared to 887 for Ukrainians. This may indicate the tendency of immigrants to stay in our country.
The numbers are falling
When it comes to employment rates of immigrants in general – not only Ukrainians, but from all parts of the world – we are also among the global leaders. With the EU average of 67.9%. in Poland this indicator is 78.4%. Only Iceland, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and Hungary have better results in engaging immigrants in their labor market.
However, there seems to be a stream of immigrant labor flowing towards Poland dry slowly. In 2024, the number of newly registered foreign workers in Poland decreased by 8 percent to 1.8 millionwhich means the second consecutive annual decline (after a decline of 11% in 2023), says the OECD. On the other hand, the Central Statistical Office reported on Tuesday that on the last day of May 2025, 1,068.9 thousand people worked in Poland. foreigners, i.e. by 4.4 percent more than in May 2024, so these numbers fluctuate.
“Despite these declines, the number of newly registered foreign workers was still higher than in 2019 (1.5 million). While the number of work permits issued remained stable at 323,000, significant declines were recorded in other categories. More than million new notifications about entrusting work, which means a decrease by 7%. year to year. The number of declarations valid for at least 90 days decreased by 15%. to 421,000, and the number of registrations of seasonal work dropped by half, reaching only 8,200,” reads the OECD report.
In 2024, Poland recorded the second highest year-on-year increase in the migrant employment rate in the world. Costa Rica was first with an improvement of 3.4 percentage points, then Poland with an increase of 3 percentage points. and Denmark in third place with +2.7 percentage points. The overall decline in employment is therefore due to immigrants moving to other countries rather than layoffs.
Interestingly, the employment rate of foreigners in the Polish labor market is higher than that of Poles themselves. While 81.1% of foreigners worked, 74.6% of Poles worked. The difference in favor of foreigners is greater only in: Luxembourg, Chile and Portugal. In Poland, the biggest difference concerns people with secondary education, where the employment rate of people aged 15-64 is 80.6% among foreigners and 71.8% among Poles. In the case of Germany, the positive difference for immigrants is only in the case of people with low education.
There is, of course, the other side of the coin. Poles are still leaving the country in search of a better life.
The other side of the coin, i.e. Polish emigration
According to the OECD report, approximately 100,000 people have been migrating to Germany each year since 2020. Poles. This is still much less than in 2013-2015, when it was over 190,000. per year, but still a lot. The declines started in 2016. In the case of the Netherlands, the trend is quite constant and 20-27 thousand people have been emigrating there regularly since 2013. Poles per year. In the case of Norway, the peak was 10.5 thousand. of our immigrants in 2013, then the number decreased to an average of 6,000. annually in recent years. However, emigration from Poland to Switzerland is growing, approaching 8,000 in 2023. during the year.
In Iceland, Poles constitute as much as 28 percent. immigrants, in Norway 11 percent, in Ireland, similarly to Germany – 10 percent, in Great Britain 7 percent. (here we were overtaken only by Indians, who constitute 9 percent of immigrants), and in the Netherlands, 6 percent. In Denmark, Poles constituted 7% in 2024. the country's immigrant population, overtaking Turks (9%) and Russians (7%).
In terms of numbers, the largest Polish immigration is in Germany, where almost 1.6 million of our compatriots live, in second place is Great Britain, and in third place is the Netherlands.
373.3 thousand people left Poland permanently. people. However, in 2024 this number decreased by less than a thousand, so the trend may reverse.
On the other hand, 13 percent of German emigration goes to our country and we rank third after Switzerland (18%) and Austria (14%).
