2025 was the strongest year in the history of Poland’s pension system in terms of growth in accumulated savings, according to the Polish Financial Supervision Authority’s report, The State of the Pension Market in Poland at the End of 2025. Participants in the second and third pillars held a combined PLN 425.6 billion, PLN 118.2 billion more than a year earlier.
A significant part of this increase was driven by the stock market rally. Open pension funds generated an average return of 42%, the highest annual result since the second pillar was introduced. At the same time, pension fund management companies earned less than in the previous year, while a growing number of Employee Capital Plan participants withdrew their savings.
- Assets held across the pension system reached PLN 425.6 billion, increasing by PLN 118.2 billion year on year.
- Open pension funds generated an average return of 42% in 2025, the highest result in their history.
- The number of pension accounts rose to 21.5 million, an increase of 600,000 compared with the previous year.
- The combined net profit of pension fund management companies fell by 10% to PLN 643.8 million.
Record Growth in Pension Savings
At the end of 2025, a total of 21.5 million accounts were maintained across all forms of retirement saving, including open pension funds, occupational pension schemes, Individual Retirement Accounts, Individual Retirement Security Accounts and Employee Capital Plans. This was 600,000 more than a year earlier.
The value of assets held in these accounts increased to PLN 425.6 billion, representing annual growth of 38.4%. This was by far the strongest increase in recent years. In 2024, pension assets grew by PLN 19.8 billion, while in 2025 they increased by PLN 118.2 billion.
Open pension funds made the largest contribution to this growth, with their assets rising by PLN 80.5 billion. However, voluntary third-pillar products also recorded exceptionally strong growth. Assets held in Individual Retirement Security Accounts increased by 50.1%, Employee Capital Plan assets rose by 49.0%, and Individual Retirement Account assets grew by 37.2%.
Chart 1. Value of assets by pension product, PLN million
Open Pension Funds Record Their Best Year, but More Money Is Leaving the System
At the end of 2025, open pension funds managed net assets worth PLN 293.5 billion, approaching the level recorded before the 2014 pension reform.
The Warsaw Stock Exchange delivered exceptionally strong results in 2025. The broad-market WIG index gained 47.3%, while the WIG20 rose by 45.3%. Given the high exposure of open pension funds to Polish equities, this translated into an average annual return of nearly 42%, compared with just 5% a year earlier.
This was the highest annual return in the entire history of the second pillar. Over the past five years, open pension funds generated a cumulative return of 125%, exceeding cumulative inflation over the same period by 81 percentage points.
The favourable market environment does not, however, change the long-term trend. Under the so-called safety slider mechanism, capital accumulated in open pension funds is gradually transferred to insured persons’ subaccounts at the Social Insurance Institution during the ten years preceding retirement age.
In 2025, this mechanism transferred PLN 11.9 billion out of open pension funds, PLN 2.2 billion more than in the previous year. By comparison, new contributions transferred from the Social Insurance Institution to the funds amounted to only PLN 4.8 billion.
The negative balance was offset by dividend income from companies held in open pension fund portfolios. Nevertheless, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority explicitly warns that the safety slider will place increasing pressure on the value of assets managed by open pension funds in the coming years as larger age cohorts enter the transfer process.
Individual Retirement Accounts Gain Popularity
The voluntary individual savings segment recorded the most dynamic growth.
The number of Individual Retirement Accounts increased by 23.3% to 1.19 million, while the number of Individual Retirement Security Accounts rose by 29.8% to 770,000.
The value of assets held in Individual Retirement Accounts increased by 37.2% to PLN 31.3 billion. Assets held in Individual Retirement Security Accounts grew even faster, rising by 50.1% to PLN 18.2 billion.
A total of 313,100 new Individual Retirement Accounts and 213,600 new Individual Retirement Security Accounts were opened in 2025. This was significantly more than in the previous year. Together, the two products accounted for almost 54% of all new pension accounts opened during the year.
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority views this growth as evidence of improving financial awareness among Polish households and a growing need to build retirement security independently of the public pension system.
Employee Capital Plan Assets Rise, but Withdrawals Increase as Well
Employee Capital Plans ended 2025, their fourth full year of operation following implementation, with 4.9 million participants and assets worth PLN 45.1 billion. This was almost 50% more than a year earlier.
However, the continued increase in withdrawals is a cause for concern. The value of refunds from Employee Capital Plans rose by 41% in 2025 to PLN 2.74 billion. This followed an increase of 25% in 2024 and a rise of as much as 174% in 2023.
Participants may withdraw funds repeatedly while remaining enrolled in the programme. However, they lose the state-funded contribution, while the withdrawn capital is reduced by statutory deductions.
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority warns that if this practice becomes entrenched, it may reduce the future benefits available to participants after they reach the age of 60.
The statutory review of the Employee Capital Plan system is scheduled for 2026 and is expected to provide an opportunity to improve the programme’s attractiveness.
Chart 2. Number of accounts and value of assets in the pension system, 2021–2025
Pension Fund Management Companies Earn Less Despite the Stock Market Rally
Paradoxically, the record performance of open pension funds did not translate into stronger financial results for the pension fund management companies responsible for managing them.
The combined net profit of the eight pension fund management companies amounted to PLN 643.8 million in 2025, 10% less than a year earlier.
The main reason was a sharp, almost fourfold increase in contributions to the Guarantee Fund. These costs rose from PLN 56.5 million to PLN 213.2 million, an increase of 277%. The increase was linked to the contribution mechanism triggered by the rapid growth in the value of open pension fund assets.
Despite lower profits, all eight management companies decided to pay dividends from their 2024 earnings. The total value of dividends reached PLN 617.4 million, 71% more than a year earlier and equivalent to 96% of the sector’s combined net profit.
The companies’ capital position remained strong. At the end of 2025, their combined equity amounted to PLN 2.7 billion, representing 84% of the balance-sheet total and remaining well above regulatory requirements.
Chart 3. Aggregate net financial result of pension fund management companies, PLN million
The Market Remains Highly Concentrated
Despite growing competition from Individual Retirement Accounts and Individual Retirement Security Accounts, Poland’s pension market remains highly concentrated.
The two largest pension fund management companies oversee more than 53% of the total net assets of all pension funds, while the three largest account for 66%. This structure remained largely unchanged compared with 2024.
Open pension funds alone account for 69% of all assets accumulated in the pension system, while their members’ accounts represent 65% of all pension accounts in Poland.
However, open pension funds were the only segment to record a decline in the number of accounts in 2025. The number fell by 2.1%, reflecting the fact that the system has been closed to new participants since 2014.
Methodology
The data come from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority’s report, Information on the State of the Pension Market in Poland at the End of 2025.
The report covers pension fund management companies managing open pension funds and voluntary pension funds, occupational pension societies, as well as third-pillar products including occupational pension schemes, Individual Retirement Accounts, Individual Retirement Security Accounts, Employee Capital Plans and the pan-European Personal Pension Product.
All comparisons refer to the position at the end of 2024 and the end of 2025.
Data source: Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Own analysis based on PFSA data.
