- Leasing companies financed corporate investments worth PLN 119.5 billion
- This represents market growth of 8.1% year on year
- The share of electric cars in new registrations made by leasing and rental companies almost tripled
- ZPL estimates that in 2026 the value of investments financed by the leasing industry will rise to PLN 129.7 billion
The leasing industry closed 2025 with an increase in the value of investments carried out using leasing and leasing loans. Their combined value reached PLN 119.5 billion, which translates into market growth of 8.1% year on year.
“The fact that the leasing market continues to grow faster than GDP shows how important a role leasing plays in corporate investment,” emphasizes Monika Constant, President of the Polish Leasing Association (ZPL). “2025 was a period of steady growth for the leasing market, with clear differences in performance across its main segments. The strongest growth engine was the financing of light vehicles, which accounted for the largest share of new financing. The macroeconomic environment remained challenging, but in the second half of the year a gradual recovery in industry and transport became visible, which translated into the sector’s results,” she adds.
Financing via leasing loans grew significantly faster than leasing itself. In 2025, the value of leasing loans increased by 27.1% to PLN 17.3 billion. Leasing nevertheless remained the dominant form of financing: the value of assets financed in this way amounted to PLN 102.1 billion, up 5.5% year on year.
Leasing remains primarily a financing tool for SMEs. In 2025, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 70.9% of financed investments, confirming the sector’s important role in supporting the development of smaller businesses.
Vehicles at the heart of financing
In the structure of financed investments in 2025, vehicles dominated with a 73.8% share, including light vehicles at 56.4%.
“Financing light vehicles was the main growth driver of the entire leasing market in 2025—its value rose by 11.6% year on year to PLN 67.4 billion. The number of financed vehicles increased noticeably, while the average transaction value declined slightly. The smallest companies benefit the most from light-vehicle financing, and consumer leasing is also becoming increasingly visible, reaching a 4.1% share in 2025,” notes Marcin Nieplowicz, Chief Economist at EFL and the Polish Leasing Association.
This trend was also supported by the NaszEauto programme—a government subsidy scheme for the purchase, leasing, or long-term rental of new electric cars, run by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and the Ministry of Climate and Environment under the National Recovery Plan. The programme launched in early February 2025, and by January 2026 its budget had already been exhausted. The total value of submitted subsidy applications exceeded PLN 1.18 billion.
“The dominant financing form for vehicles covered by the applications was leasing and rental, which outweighed direct purchase. Their share reached almost 80%. The same was true under the earlier ‘My Electrician’ programme. This confirms leasing’s important role in the electrification of transport,” says Monika Constant.
An additional boost to fleet electrification in the coming months may come from tax changes effective from 1 January 2026. These reduced the cap for deducting expenses for internal-combustion vehicles to PLN 100,000, while maintaining the PLN 225,000 limit for electric vehicles—significantly improving the economics of EV leasing.
According to data from the Polish Automotive Industry Association (PZPM), the share of electric cars in new registrations made by leasing and rental companies nearly tripled in 2025, to more than 29,000 vehicles. Leasing and rental together accounted for the registration of every second new car in 2025.
“After seven quarters of declines, heavy-vehicle financing returned to positive growth in the second quarter of 2025. Over the full year, its value rose by 4.4% year on year to PLN 19.7 billion. The economic rebound in the euro area—especially in industry—began to translate into improved sentiment and activity among transport companies. In the heavy-vehicle segment, the importance of investment loans is increasing, and the share of used-equipment financing remains relatively high,” Marcin Nieplowicz assesses.
The agro segment remains strong
Financing for machinery and equipment accounted for 22.3% of the leasing market’s value in 2025. This segment grew more slowly than other parts of the market: its value increased by 1.7% year on year to PLN 26.7 billion. This result was driven largely by very strong growth in the agro segment, which rose by 24.5% year on year to PLN 7.5 billion, alongside declines in the financing of construction machinery (-9.8% y/y to PLN 4.8 billion). Agricultural machinery represented 28% of the machinery-and-equipment portfolio by value.
“Despite moderate growth in market value, the number of transactions in machinery financing increased significantly, while the average value of a single transaction fell. Machinery is financed by loans much more often than vehicles, and the loan share rose markedly in 2025,” says Marcin Nieplowicz.
Financing by asset class
- Vehicles – PLN 88.1 billion (up 9.9% y/y), including:
- light vehicles – PLN 67.4 billion (up 11.6% y/y)
- heavy vehicles – PLN 19.7 billion (up 4.4% y/y)
- other vehicles – PLN 1.0 billion (up 8.9% y/y)
- Machinery and equipment – PLN 26.7 billion (up 1.7% y/y)
- Other movable assets – PLN 3.8 billion (up 8.8% y/y)
- Real estate – PLN 0.8 billion (up 63% y/y)
By the end of 2025, the value of the active leasing portfolio (movable assets) stood at PLN 230 billion (up 7.6% y/y), confirming leasing’s strong position as a key source of investment financing in the Polish economy. By comparison, the value of investment loans granted by banks reached PLN 207.2 billion (up 8.4% y/y).
2026: regulation, digitalization, and the green transition
The Polish Leasing Association estimates that in 2026 the value of investments financed by the leasing industry may increase to PLN 129.7 billion, implying a 9% growth rate. The forecast assumes stable corporate investment activity and leasing’s continued significant role in financing Poland’s economic development.
“2026 will be a year of major investments, mainly thanks to the concentration of EU spending under the National Recovery Plan and the 2021–2027 financial framework. We estimate that investment expenditure financed with EU funds could reach around PLN 182 billion, compared with approximately PLN 63 billion in 2025. EU funds will be a strong catalyst for private investment, including in the SME sector, which will be beneficial for the leasing market,” says Monika Constant.
For the leasing industry, 2026 will be a period of intensive transformation, with digitalization, regulation, and the green fleet transition reshaping the market’s operating framework. A key challenge remains fully unlocking the potential of deregulation introduced in 2025—especially the ability to conclude leasing contracts in documentary form. ZPL argues that the next stage should include further digitalization of processes, including the implementation of KSeF, the development of e-registration of vehicles, digital data flows from CEPiK, and automation of customer service processes—so that leasing can operate within a fully digital ecosystem.
One of the major challenges for the leasing industry this year will be the European Commission’s draft regulation on so-called clean corporate vehicles (Clean Corporate Vehicles). The Polish Leasing Association, together with PZWLP, ZPP, and TLP, argues that the proposal in its current form interferes excessively with the vehicle financing market, shifting the burden of fleet transformation onto leasing and rental companies and, indirectly, onto SMEs—even though the regulation is formally intended to apply to large enterprises. In the Polish context, this could reduce the availability of leasing and rental, increase financing costs, and slow investment, while also lacking technological neutrality and failing to reflect the level of charging infrastructure development and the specifics of Central and Eastern European markets.
“ZPL advocates that corporate fleet transformation should be driven by market mechanisms, stable and predictable regulatory frameworks, and financial and tax incentives—not rigid, top-down quantitative targets. It is crucial to maintain technological neutrality, ensure consistency with other EU policies—particularly in energy and infrastructure—and shape regulations so that they do not limit entrepreneurs’ access to leasing and rental as core tools for financing investment,” Monika Constant stresses.
