Public spending on culture and national heritage in Poland increased to PLN 22.8 billion in 2025, up 6.3% from a year earlier, according to Statistics Poland. The amount was equivalent to 0.58% of GDP, the highest share in around 15 years. Local governments financed more than two-thirds of the total.
Public expenditure rose from PLN 21.43 billion in 2024 to PLN 22.78 billion in 2025. After eliminating transfers between public institutions, local governments accounted for PLN 15.74 billion and the state budget for PLN 7.04 billion.
Local governments provide around 69% of public cultural spending
The largest part of local-government cultural expenditure went to cultural houses, centres, clubs and community centres, which accounted for 34.1%. Libraries represented 17.9%, museums and heritage 17.3%, theatres 9.9%, and philharmonics, orchestras and choirs 3.6%.
Mazowieckie accounted for around 18% of local-government cultural spending nationwide.
Household spending on culture rose by more than 12%
Average annual household expenditure on culture per person increased from PLN 481.68 to PLN 540.84, a nominal rise of 12.3%. Cultural spending represented around 2.2% of total household expenditure.
The share differed by household type. It reached around 3% among self-employed households and 1.6% among disability-pension households.
Cultural institutions increased revenue and improved their result
The 4,708 cultural institutions covered by the statistics generated PLN 18.48 billion in revenue, up 10.9%, while costs increased by 10.7% to PLN 18.27 billion.
The aggregate net result improved to PLN 201.4 million from PLN 159.7 million a year earlier. Operating grants remained the main revenue source, with public grants increasing to PLN 14.04 billion. Local governments provided 79.2% of those grants.
Some 46.7% of institutions reported a profit and 36.5% a loss. Most were relatively small employers: 57.4% had fewer than 10 employees and 34.6% employed between 10 and 49 people. Only 31 institutions had at least 250 employees.
Employment and wages increased
Cultural institutions employed around 89,800 people, 1.5% more than a year earlier. Wage costs increased by 11.6% to PLN 8.94 billion.
Local-government institutions accounted for 87.2% of cultural-sector employment covered by the report, with municipal institutions alone representing 62.3%.
Museums attracted more than 65 million visits
Museums recorded 46.2 million visits, while institutions classified as paramuseums attracted another 19.5 million, bringing the combined total to around 65.7 million.
The most visited institutions included the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw with 5.18 million visits, Wawel Royal Castle with 3.48 million and the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów with around 2.5 million.
Poland had 538 cinemas, including 534 permanent venues. They recorded 49.7 million admissions, up 0.3%, despite the number of screenings declining by 1.7%.
Art galleries attracted 6.4 million visitors, an increase of about 42%, including roughly 3 million visitors to outdoor exhibitions. Around 7,000 mass events were attended by 30.7 million people.
Source: Statistics Poland, culture and national heritage data for 2025, published in 2026.
