In 2022, more people came to Poland permanently than left. The balance of permanent foreign migration in Poland was 1.9 thousand, and an increase in immigration and emigration was recorded in comparison to the previous year. According to data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), of the total number of immigrants who came to the country to live permanently, 62 % were Poles.

Published last year, CSO report ‘Demographic situation of Poland until 2022’ says that more people came to Poland permanently than left it. In 2022, the balance of foreign migration for permanent residence was 1.9 thousand, with the number of immigration reaching 15.6 thousand and emigration 13.6 thousand.

According to the CSO data, the main directions of emigration remain Germany and the United Kingdom. Fluctuations in the number of permanent emigration to Germany have been noticeable in recent years. In 2022, 3.9 thousand people left there permanently, in 2021, – 3.7 thousand, in 2020, – 2.6 thousand, and in 2019, – 3.8 thousand.

The data shows that immigrants coming to Poland to live permanently consist largely of returning Poles. In 2022, they accounted for 62 % of the total immigrants. In the case of permanent residence immigration, as in the previous year, in 2022 the largest number of people arrived from Ukraine (3,200), the United Kingdom (2,600) and Germany (2,300).

The trend analysis shows that Poland is transforming from a typical emigration country into an emigration-immigration country. In the longer term, from the moment of Poland’s accession to the European Union, the authors of the report note a relatively stable level of immigration (around 10-17 thousand per year) and at the same time significant fluctuations in emigration until 2015 (in 2006 – 46.9 thousand, in 2010 – 17.4 thousand, in 2013 – 32.1 thousand) and its slight changes after 2015 (approximately 8-14 thousand per year).

Arkadiusz Słomczyński