The Central Statistical Office (GUS) has published the report “People over 50 on the labor market in 2020” It shows that the employment rates and the economic activity rate of Poles aged 50+ have improved. On the other hand, the number of unemployed and economically inactive older people decreased.
According to the report, at the end of 2020, 14.4 million people aged 50+ lived in Poland. That’s 37.6% of the entire society (by 0.2% more than a year earlier). The number of economically active people of this age increased by 1.7% in 2020 compared to the previous year. According to the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS), in October 2020, the average gross salary of people over 50 in Poland was PLN 5,705.23.
In individual regions, the share of people aged 50+ in local communities is subject to strong fluctuations. The communes located in the south-eastern part of Podlaskie Voivodeship had the highest share of elderly people. Among the 10 Polish communes with the highest share of elderly people among the inhabitants – 9 (all rural ones) are in the Podlasie region.
The communes from the most developed regions of Poland are mostly located in the vicinity of the largest cities (the so-called beigel communes). Especially many, 6 out of the 10 “youngest communes” are near Poznań.
In its report, the Central Statistical Office notes that, according to the Labor Force Survey, in 2020, economically active people (working and unemployed) accounted for 33.7% of the total number of people over 50. This share is known as the activity rate. In the previous year (2019), it was lower by 0.3%.
According to the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS), in 2020 the highest percentage of employees aged over 50 was recorded in companies dealing with the production and supply of electricity, gas, steam and hot water. That’s 47.6% of all working in this section.
A significant share of those workers over 50 in the total number of employees was recorded in the following sections: real estate market services (44.4%), agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing (42.5%) as well as health care and social assistance (40,3%). The smallest number of employed people aged 50+ work for the information and communication section, where less than one in ten was the employer at the age of 50 and more.
The report shows that in 2020 there were 9,164,000 jobless people 50+ outside the labor market. Compared to 2019, the number of economically inactive fell by 3 thousand. The most common causes of inactivity were retirement, disability and illness.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński order