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Contents
In brief

The country
- 3
36.3 million people, fewer and older, in a growing economy
- 4
Deaths outnumber births, and migration adds little

Where the market is now
- 5
Permits fell 60 percent from the 2021 peak
- 6
Three times the EU rate and three times the median of its peers
- 7
Citizens of Ukraine and Belarus received 81% of permits
- 8
Permits to citizens of the seven centres peaked in 2023
- 9
Counties may close occupations to new work permits

The outlook
- 10
About 304,000 permits in 2026, flat in 2027
- 11
Origin shares held at 2025, and the drivers
- 11
What could change this

Method and sources
- 12
How to read this report
- 12
Sources, photographs and flags
Cover: Warsaw at night, the city centre seen across the Vistula. Photograph by Radek Kucharski, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Poland issued 318,186 first residence permits for work in 2025, 5.8 percent fewer than in 2024 and 60 percent below the peak of 790,070 in 2021: 14.8 for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64, three times the EU rate and the median of its six peers. Citizens of Ukraine and Belarus received 81.3 percent of them. Werklist's seven sourcing centres received 20,853, 6.6 percent. The rules are tightening: since 1 June 2025 a county may close named occupations to new work permits. We expect about 304,000 permits in 2026, between 188,000 and 461,000. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, and the direction is flat. In 2031 the central line gives 291,000 permits a year and held flat gives 318,000, both lines on stated assumptions, not forecasts; in 2036, 290,000 and 318,000.
First residence permits for work issued in 2025, down 5.8 percent on 2024
Permits in 2026, between 188,000 and 461,000
Permits a year in 2031, the central line; held flat 318,000
Fewer people aged 20 to 64 in 2041 than in 2026
36.3 million people, fewer and older, in a growing economy
36,332,765 people lived in Poland on 1 January 2026, 1,672,849 fewer than in 2015; 884,781 of the fall is in 2020, where Eurostat's figures carry a statistical adjustment. Deaths have outnumbered births in every year since 2019. Counting lower prices at home, GDP per head rose from 70 to 81 percent of the EU average from 2015 to 2025. Eurostat projects 1.33 million fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041.

People living in Poland on 1 January 2026
4.4 percent fewer than in 2015, and 8.0 percent of the EU's 452.0 million. People aged 65 and over were 21.0 percent of the population in 2025.
GDP in 2025, billion euro at current prices
4.9 percent of the EU economy.
GDP per head in 2025
59 percent of the EU average of 41,700 euro in 2025. Counting lower prices at home, 81 percent, up from 70 percent in 2015.
Real growth in 2025
Against 1.4 percent across the EU. Over 2021 to 2025 the economy grew 20.6 percent in all, the EU grew 13.7 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).
People aged 20 to 64 in work, 2025
Against 76.1 percent across the EU.
The EU and the new act
Sources: Eurostat, demo_gind (population, updated 21 July 2026), nama_10_gdp and nama_10_pc (GDP, updated 21 September 2026), tec00114 (price adjusted GDP per head), tec00115 (growth), lfsi_emp_a (employment), demo_pjanbroad (age). All retrieved 27 September 2026. Figures for 2025 GDP, GDP per head and growth are provisional. Key dates: European Union, country page of Poland; Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, article 114. Both retrieved 28 September 2026.
Deaths outnumber births, and migration adds little
Deaths have outnumbered births every year since 2019, and net migration was small outside 2020
In 2025, 405,747 people died and 238,264 were born. Net migration added 2,753, so the population fell by 164,730.
Source: Eurostat, demo_gind (updated 21 July 2026), migr_imm1ctz and migr_emi1ctz (moves of a year or more), retrieved 27 September 2026. Net migration includes Eurostat's statistical adjustment. Not published: moves in and out for 2025.
About 34.49 million people by 2041 on Eurostat's projection
Observed to 2026, then Eurostat's 2025 projection in the lighter line.
Source: Eurostat, demo_gind (observed, updated 21 July 2026) and proj_25np (EUROPOP2025 baseline and migration tests, updated 11 June 2026), retrieved 27 September 2026.
The share aged 65 and over rises to 25%
Source: Eurostat, demo_pjanbroad (2025) and proj_25np (2041), retrieved 27 September 2026.
922.9 billion euro in 2025, and the IMF forecast to 2031
Real growth under each year: observed to 2025 (Eurostat, tec00115), the IMF forecast after. Sources: Eurostat, nama_10_gdp (2025 provisional); IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Werklist calculation: the other years are the 2025 value moved by the real growth rates; retrieved 27 September 2026.
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ReportsPermits fell 60 percent from the 2021 peak
Down every year since 2021, to 318,186 in 2025
Poland issued 318,186 first residence permits for work in 2025, against 337,874 in 2024 and 625,120 in 2019.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
A first residence permit for work is the first permit to stay for work that Poland reports to Eurostat for a citizen of a country outside the EU, valid three months or more. Renewals are not counted. The work permit a voivode issues to the employer is a separate count, below.
44.8% of the permits of 2025 run for a year or more, up from 9.1% in 2019
The share valid for 12 months or more: 9.1 percent in 2019, 44.8 percent in 2025.
Share of permits valid for 12 months or more
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by length of validity, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Eurostat's count and the work permit count, 2025
First residence permits for work, Eurostat, 2025
Work permits issued by the voivodes, 2025
A voivode issues the work permit to the employer before the worker applies for a visa or a residence permit. Its largest citizenships in 2025 were Colombia, the Philippines and India; Eurostat's largest is Ukraine.
Sources: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, updated 11 September 2026; Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, work permits 2025 (Zezwolenia na pracę), file of 23 April 2026, retrieved 28 September 2026.
Three times the EU rate and three times the median of its peers
First residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64
The first residence permits for work a country issues in a year, divided by the residents aged 20 to 64 living there on 1 January of that year. These are first permits only, as Eurostat counts them.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst (first permits for employment) and demo_pjangroup (residents aged 20 to 64 on 1 January), reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026 and 25 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation. Hungary, the peer with the second highest rate, is drawn beside Poland; all six peers are in the table. The EU line: migr_resfirst and demo_pjangroup for the 27 EU countries (residents aged 20 to 64 in 2024 summed from single years of age, demo_pjan).
Per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, Poland and its six peers
The peers: the EU members of Central and South East Europe that joined in 2004 to 2013, the Baltic states and Slovenia apart.
| All lengths | 12 months or more | 3 to 11 months | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21.1 | 1.6 | 19.6 | |
| 14.8 | 6.6 | 8.1 | |
| 8.5 | 7.5 | 1.1 | |
| 5.5 | 5.3 | 0.2 | |
| 4.1 | 3.3 | 0.8 | |
| 3.4 | 3.1 | 0.3 | |
| 2.8 | 2.7 | 0.1 | |
| Median of the six peers | 4.8 | 3.2 | 0.5 |
| EU | 4.9 | 3.6 | 1.3 |
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by length of validity and demo_pjangroup (1 January 2025), updated 11 and 25 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation.
Poland issued 14.8 first residence permits for work per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, three times the EU's 4.9 and three times 4.8, the median of its six peers. Of the peers only Croatia issued more, 21.1, and nine in ten of its permits ran for less than a year. Poland's rate peaked at 35.0 in 2021. On permits of a year or more, Poland issued 6.6 per 1,000 and Hungary 7.5.
Citizens of Ukraine and Belarus received 81% of permits
Citizens of Ukraine received 186,943 permits in 2025 and citizens of Belarus 71,541, together 81.3 percent. Permits to citizens of Colombia rose to 3,967 from 1,593. Werklist's seven sourcing centres received 20,853, 6.6 percent: India 5,385, Uzbekistan 4,305, the Philippines 3,847, Nepal 2,855, Vietnam 1,799, Bangladesh 1,461 and Indonesia 1,201.
| Citizenship | Permits 2024 | Permits 2025 | Share 2024 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 185,476 | 186,943 | 54.9% | 58.8% | |
| 80,320 | 71,541 | 23.8% | 22.5% | |
| 11,426 | 9,358 | 3.4% | 2.9% | |
| 5,950 | 5,385 | 1.8% | 1.7% | |
| 3,946 | 4,305 | 1.2% | 1.4% | |
| 1,593 | 3,967 | 0.5% | 1.2% | |
| 6,971 | 3,847 | 2.1% | 1.2% | |
| 5,510 | 3,670 | 1.6% | 1.2% | |
| 2,545 | 2,855 | 0.8% | 0.9% | |
| 4,011 | 2,128 | 1.2% | 0.7% | |
| Other origins | 30,126 | 24,187 | 8.9% | 7.6% |
| All origins | 337,874 | 318,186 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference years 2024 and 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
Citizens of Ukraine received 58.8% of the permits issued in 2025
Shares of the first residence permits for work issued in 2025, by citizenship.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference year 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
Poland issued 20,853 permits to citizens of the seven centres, Romania 33,933 and Croatia 23,510
Permits for citizens of the seven sourcing centres (Nepal, India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan) in 2025, in Poland and its six peers, against all first residence permits for work.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference year 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
Permits to citizens of the seven centres peaked in 2023
The seven centres: 11,475 permits in 2019, 39,460 in 2023, 20,853 in 2025
Citizens of India received the most permits of the seven in every year but 2024, with 12,126 at the high in 2022; permits to citizens of the Philippines fell from 8,344 in 2023 to 3,847 in 2025. Permits to citizens of Colombia, in grey, rose from 94 in 2019 to 3,967. Ukraine and Belarus are counted in Other origins in the table.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, by citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
The seven sourcing centres in 2025: India 5,385, Uzbekistan 4,305, the Philippines 3,847, Nepal 2,855, Vietnam 1,799, Bangladesh 1,461 and Indonesia 1,201, together 6.6 percent of 318,186.
| Citizenship | 2019 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,809 | 9,325 | 5,950 | 5,385 | 1.7% | |
| 1,301 | 6,860 | 3,946 | 4,305 | 1.4% | |
| 2,500 | 8,344 | 6,971 | 3,847 | 1.2% | |
| 1,301 | 5,369 | 2,545 | 2,855 | 0.9% | |
| 1,902 | 3,549 | 2,615 | 1,799 | 0.6% | |
| 878 | 3,130 | 1,493 | 1,461 | 0.5% | |
| 784 | 2,883 | 2,788 | 1,201 | 0.4% | |
| 94 | 732 | 1,593 | 3,967 | 1.2% | |
| Other origins | 613,551 | 386,970 | 309,973 | 293,366 | 92.2% |
| All origins | 625,120 | 427,162 | 337,874 | 318,186 | 100.0% |
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, by citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026.
Counties may close occupations to new work permits
The rules as they stand on 28 September 2026
The Act of 20 March 2025 took effect. A voivode issues the work permit to the employer, for at most three years.
A work permit is issued only if the pay reaches the minimum wage and the pay of comparable staff, for a quarter to full time.
A county head may list occupations closed to new work permits because of local unemployment; the voivode approves the list.
Citizens of the states a ministerial regulation names may work up to 24 months on a declaration entered by the county labour office.
A consulate decides on a national visa for work within 15 days, 30 in justified cases.
Sources: Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, articles 3, 15, 30, 31, 61 and 114, Sejm legal acts service, retrieved 28 September 2026; Embassy of Poland in New Delhi, national visa for work, retrieved 27 September 2026.
About 1,330,000 fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041
Eurostat projects 21,900,747 in 2026 and 20,575,549 in 2041, a fall of 6.1 percent. With lower migration the fall is 1,964,651, with higher migration 681,882.
Source: Eurostat, proj_25np, EUROPOP2025 baseline and migration sensitivity tests, updated 11 June 2026; 2025 observed, demo_pjangroup, updated 25 September 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Citizens of Poland who left in 2024, down from 162,088 in 2022
Citizens of Poland only, who moved abroad for a year or more; 88,687 came back. All citizenships together, 205,869 moved out in 2024 (page 4).
Eurostat, migr_emi1ctz, retrieved 27 September 2026
Unemployment in 2025, against 6.0 percent across the EU
The share of the labour force without a job and looking for one, about half the EU rate.
Eurostat, une_rt_a, retrieved 27 September 2026
Work permits of 2025 for the seven sourcing centres
Of 251,525: the Philippines 29,576, India 29,524, Nepal 18,805, Uzbekistan 18,269, Indonesia 13,502, Bangladesh 8,906 and Vietnam 5,556.
Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, retrieved 28 September 2026
About 304,000 permits in 2026, flat in 2027
We expect about 304,000 first residence permits for work in 2026, as the fall of the last five years slows. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is flat. In 2031 the central line gives 291,000 and held flat gives 318,000, both lines on stated assumptions. The yearly loss of people aged 20 to 64 would call for fewer permits than either line and is not applied.
Permits in 2026, our estimate
between 188,000 and 461,000
Permits a year in 2031, the central line, a stated assumption, not a forecast
held flat 318,000, a stated assumption
Direction of the rules and of the count
Permits in 2027: flat; the range is too wide for a yearly number
Two lines on stated assumptions: the central line gives 291,000 in 2031, held flat 318,000
Permits issued to 2025, then our estimate with its range for 2026; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is flat. From 2027, two lines on stated assumptions: the central line and held flat. No peers' line is drawn: Poland already issues 14.8 first permits a year per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64, three times 4.8, the median of its six peers (Bulgaria 3.4, Czechia 2.8, Croatia 21.1, Hungary 8.5, Romania 5.5 and Slovakia 4.1).
Source: Werklist estimate from Eurostat migr_resfirst (reference years to 2025, updated 11 September 2026); the lines from 2027, each on a stated assumption: central line, the 2025 count moved by its mean yearly change of the last five years (down 8.7 percent a year), damped by half each year; the demand of the falling working age lies below it and is not applied; held flat, the 2025 count held; retrieved 27 September 2026. Rates per 1,000: Eurostat migr_resfirst over demo_pjangroup (1 January 2025), Werklist calculation. Values rounded to three significant figures; Low and High give the range of 2026.
Origin shares held at 2025, and the drivers
Nepal's share is held at 0.9% from 2025 to 2035, a stated assumption
A stated assumption, not a forecast: the shares of 2025 are held. For Nepal the range in 2031 is 0.6 to 1.4 percent. The other sourcing centres keep their 2025 shares to 2035: India 1.7%, Uzbekistan 1.4%, the Philippines 1.2%, Vietnam 0.6%, Bangladesh 0.5% and Indonesia 0.4%.
Source: Werklist estimate on Eurostat migr_resfirst by citizenship, updated 28 September 2026, retrieved 30 September 2026. Shares of each year's permits, to 2035, held at the shares of 2025.
Only the count's own trend enters the central line
The loss of people aged 20 to 64 is not applied; the other numbers stand beside the lines.
6.1 percent fewer from 2026 to 2041. It enters no line: the demand it implies lies below the count.
The mean yearly change of the last five years, carried into the central line and damped by half each year: down to a factor of 0.91.
125,667 left and 88,687 returned, all ages.
GDP: 3.0 in 2024, 3.6 in 2025 and 3.3 in 2026 (projected), in percent.
Against 4.8, the median of its six peers, and 4.9 across the EU.
Issued by the voivodes to employers. The work permit comes before the visa and the residence permit.
Sources: Eurostat proj_25np, migr_emi1ctz, migr_imm1ctz, migr_resfirst and demo_pjangroup (Werklist calculation); Werklist country record 2026.1; IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026; Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy; retrieved 27 and 28 September 2026.
What could change this
Three changes sit outside our estimate. Each could move the numbers on this page and the one before.
Work permits come before the residence permit
The voivodes issued 251,525 work permits in 2025. The work permit comes before the visa and the residence permit, so a change in work permits would show in Eurostat's count later.
A yearly limit on work permits
Article 13 of the Act of 20 March 2025 lets the Council of Ministers cap the work permits of a year by regulation, by region, occupation or sector. A cap would lower the count.
The end of temporary protection
937,120 citizens of Ukraine held EU temporary protection in Poland at the end of August 2026. Holders who stay to work after it ends would need a residence permit for work, which could raise the count.
How to read this report
What a first residence permit for work is
The first residence permit a citizen of a country outside the EU receives in order to work. Renewals are not counted. The work permit a voivode issues to the employer is counted apart by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy: 251,525 in 2025.
What the range and the lines mean
We give a yearly number with a low and a high end for 2026 only. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, so we give the direction. After that we give two lines, each on a stated assumption: the central line and held flat. Observed numbers are solid lines, estimates dashed ones.
How the estimate is made
We start from the 318,186 permits of 2025 and carry the fall of the last five years, 8.7 percent a year, damped by half each year: about 304,000 in 2026. For 2027 we give the direction, flat. In 2031 the central line gives 291,000 a year and held flat gives 318,000, both on stated assumptions.
Numbers, dates and words
Past counts are printed exactly; estimates are rounded to three significant figures. The comparison with the six peers and the EU is our arithmetic on Eurostat data. Permits are counted, not people; people appear only where we speak of the population.
Sources
Every source retrieved 27, 28 or 30 September 2026.
- Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026; by citizenship, updated 28 September 2026. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser/ view/ migr_resfirst - Eurostat, demo_gind, demo_pjangroup and demo_pjanbroad, population, births, deaths and age. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Eurostat, migr_imm1ctz and migr_emi1ctz, immigration and emigration by citizenship. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Eurostat, proj_25np, EUROPOP2025 population projection, baseline and migration sensitivity tests, updated 11 June 2026. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser/ view/ proj_25np - Eurostat, nama_10_gdp, nama_10_pc, tec00114 and tec00115, GDP, GDP per head and growth. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - Eurostat, lfsi_emp_a and une_rt_a, employment and unemployment. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser - International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2026, real GDP growth. imf.org/
external/ datamapper - Eurostat, migr_asytpsm, beneficiaries of temporary protection by citizenship, end of August 2026, updated 24 September 2026. ec.europa.eu/
eurostat/ databrowser/ view/ migr_asytpsm - Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, work permits 2025 (Zezwolenia na pracę), by citizenship and section of activity, file of 23 April 2026. psz.praca.gov.pl
- Act of 20 March 2025 on the conditions for entrusting work to foreigners, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 621, articles 3, 13, 15, 30, 31, 61 and 114, in force 1 June 2025. isap.sejm.gov.pl, api.sejm.gov.pl/
eli/ acts/ DU/ 2025/ 621 - Embassy of Poland in New Delhi, national visa for work (type D), steps and decision times. gov.pl/
web/ india/ d-type-national-visa---work - European Union, country page of Poland: member since 1 May 2004. european-union.europa.eu
Photographs and flags
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0: Warsaw at night, Radek Kucharski (cover); Kraków from the air, Robin from Kraków (page 3). Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 4.0: port cranes in Gdańsk, Andrzej Otrębski; shipyard cranes in Gdańsk, Mike Peel. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0: Wrocław market square, Gerd Eichmann. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 2.0: Piotrkowska Street in Łódź, Adam Jones. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0: the Tatra Mountains at dusk, Qvidemus (back cover). Flags: circle-flags by HatScripts, MIT licence.
What this report answers
How many first residence permits for work has Poland issued each year since 2019?
318,186 in 2025, 5.8% fewer than the 337,874 of 2024 and 60 percent below the peak of 790,070 in 2021. In 2019 Poland issued 625,120.
Which countries do the new hires come from?
Citizens of Ukraine received 186,943 permits in 2025 and citizens of Belarus 71,541, together 81.3%. Colombia rose to 3,967 from 1,593, and Werklist's seven sourcing centres received 20,853, 6.6 percent, India 5,385 of them.
How does Poland compare with the EU and its peers?
14.8 first residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, three times the EU's 4.9 and 4.8, the median of its six peers. Only Croatia issued more, 21.1; Poland peaked at 35.0 in 2021.
How long do the permits run?
44.8% of the permits of 2025 run for 12 months or more, up from 9.1% in 2019; 52.4% run for 6 to 11 months.
How does the work permit differ from a first residence permit for work?
A voivode issues the work permit to the employer before the worker applies for a visa or a residence permit: 251,525 work permits in 2025, against 318,186 first residence permits for work in Eurostat's count.
Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?
Since 1 June 2025 a voivode issues the work permit for at most three years, only if the pay reaches the minimum wage, and a county may close named occupations to new work permits. A consulate decides on a visa for work within 15 days.
How is the working age population changing?
Eurostat projects 21,900,747 people aged 20 to 64 in 2026 and 20,575,549 in 2041, a fall of 6.1 percent, about 1,330,000 fewer.
How many first residence permits for work do we expect Poland to issue in 2026, and what comes after?
About 304,000 in 2026, between 188,000 and 461,000. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is flat. In 2031 the central line gives 291,000 a year and held flat 318,000, both lines on stated assumptions, not forecasts.
The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report