According to the latest data from Statistics Poland, 1.141 million foreigners were working in Poland at the end of December 2025. On an annual basis, this represents an increase of 7.2%, or 77,100 people. Compared with November 2025, the number of employed foreigners rose by 3,100, or 0.3%.
Foreigners accounted for 6.9% of all people performing work in Poland. A year earlier, their share stood at 6.8%.
Ukrainians Remain the Largest Group
Citizens of Ukraine remained the largest group of foreigners working in Poland. At the end of December 2025, their number stood at 771,800, representing 67.6% of all working foreigners.
Year on year, the number of working Ukrainian citizens increased by 57,600, or 8.1%. Compared with November 2025, it rose by 0.3%.
The second-largest group was made up of Belarusian citizens. A total of 118,900 Belarusians were working in Poland, accounting for 10.4% of the entire population of working foreigners. Their number increased by 1.2% year on year, but was 0.6% lower than a month earlier.
In total, foreigners working in Poland came from more than 150 countries.
Number of Workers from Colombia and India Is Growing Rapidly
Although Ukrainian citizens remain the dominant group, the data show a gradual diversification of labour migration directions. Among selected nationalities, the strongest growth was recorded among Colombian citizens.
The number of Colombians working in Poland increased over the year by 21.3%, or 3,400 people. In the case of Indian citizens, the increase was 9.1%, equivalent to 1,900 people.
There were also more working citizens of the Philippines — up by 3.2%, or 500 people. A decline was recorded among Georgian citizens. Their number fell by 3.4%, or 900 people.
Foreign Workers Are Younger Than Polish Workers
The data show that foreigners working in Poland are clearly younger than working Polish citizens. At the end of December 2025, the average age of a working foreigner was 38.2 years. For Polish citizens, it was 43.5 years.
The median age was 37 years for foreigners and 43 years for Polish citizens. Among Ukrainian citizens, the median age reached 38 years, while among foreigners from other countries it was 36 years.
Men accounted for 59.8% of foreigners performing work in Poland. This was 0.3 percentage points more than a year earlier. Among Ukrainian citizens, the share of men was 52.6%, while among foreigners from other countries it stood at 74.9%.
Most Working Foreigners Live in the Warsaw Region
The highest concentration of foreigners performing work was recorded in the Warsaw capital region. It was home to 20.3% of all working foreigners.
The lowest number of foreigners lived in the Świętokrzyskie region — 0.8%. Regional data do not include 39,000 people living abroad.
High numbers of working foreigners were also recorded in regions of major industrial and service importance, including Lower Silesia, Wielkopolska, Silesia, Małopolska and Pomerania.
Employment Agencies, Industry and Transport
The largest number of foreigners worked in administrative and support service activities, a section that includes, among other things, employment agency activities. At the end of December 2025, 226,900 foreigners were working in this sector. This was 8,300 more than a year earlier, an increase of 3.8%.
The second-largest sector was manufacturing, where 208,300 foreigners were employed. Year on year, this number increased by 13,600, or 7%.
Transport and storage ranked third. In this section, 156,000 foreigners were working, 6,700 more than a year earlier. The increase amounted to 4.5%.
In all sections of the Polish Classification of Activities, Ukrainian citizens remained the largest group of foreigners.
In Some Sectors, Foreigners Already Account for a Significant Share of Workers
The highest share of foreigners among all people performing work was recorded in administrative and support service activities. Foreigners accounted for 25.3% of workers in this section, 0.4 percentage points more than a year earlier.
In accommodation and food services, the share of foreigners was 17.8%. In transport and storage, it stood at 15.1%.
In the remaining sections, the share of foreigners did not exceed 12%, and in three sections it was below 1%.
Almost 440,000 Foreigners Work Only Under Civil Law Contracts
Statistics Poland also reported that 439,600 foreigners performed work exclusively on the basis of mandate contracts and similar civil law contracts. This was 6.1% more than a year earlier. Compared with November 2025, the figure remained essentially unchanged.
The data include people employed in the national economy and people performing work on the basis of mandate contracts and similar contracts if they were subject to social security or health insurance. They do not include specific-task contracts or assistance with harvest work.
Since January 2025, the surveyed population has also included owners, co-owners and leaseholders of individual farms, as well as family members helping them.
The Labour Market Is Increasingly Dependent on Migration
The data for December 2025 confirm the growing role of foreigners in the Polish economy. The number of foreigners performing work was 17.1% higher than at the end of January 2023.
This growth is part of broader labour market trends: staff shortages, the ageing of the domestic workforce and strong demand for workers in industry, transport, services, food services and the employment agency sector.
Although Ukrainian citizens remain the foundation of Poland’s foreign labour supply, workers from non-European countries are also becoming increasingly important. The rise in the number of citizens of Colombia and India is particularly visible, which may indicate that companies are looking for new recruitment directions.
Source: ceo.com.pl
