Statistics Poland (GUS) · Employment & wages · 2025 preliminary
Polish wages rose 9.1% in 2025 while headcount stayed flat — pay, not hiring, drove the labour market
Average employment in the national economy held at about 11.0 million full-time equivalents in 2025, barely changed from 2024. Average gross pay climbed to PLN 8,903.56 a month, a nominal increase of 9.1% — growth delivered through higher pay rates rather than more jobs.
Poland’s workforce was essentially stable in 2025. Average employment came in at 11,040.9 thousand full-time equivalents, close to the previous year. Manufacturing remained the single largest employer, accounting for 22.5% of all jobs, followed by trade and education.
Employment rose in most sections but the moves were small. The biggest gains were in other service activities, up 3.0%, education, up 2.1%, and real estate, up 2.0%. Seven sections shed jobs, led by mining and quarrying, down 3.0%, and trade and vehicle repair, down 1.6%. The net result was a labour market that neither expanded nor contracted in aggregate.
Pay rose everywhere, fastest at the bottom
Every section recorded a nominal pay increase over 2024. The average monthly gross wage reached PLN 8,903.56, but the spread across sections was wide — from PLN 5,990.92 in accommodation and food service, 32.7% below the average, to PLN 14,689.70 in information and communication, 65.0% above it.
The pattern of pay growth pointed to some narrowing of differentials. Increases ranged from 3.1% in mining and quarrying to 14.0% in human health and social work. Several of the lowest-paying sections — health, other services, accommodation, administrative support and construction — posted the fastest gains, while the highest-paying and resource-heavy sections rose more slowly.
| Section (PKD 2007) | Employment (k FTE) | vs 2024 | Gross wage (PLN) | Wage vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National economy | 11,040.9 | — | 8,903.56 | +9.1% |
| Manufacturing | 2,483.3 | −0.3% | 8,210 | +8.6% |
| Trade; repair of motor vehicles | 1,688.7 | −1.6% | 7,600 | +8.4% |
| Education | 1,192.2 | +2.1% | 9,050 | +8.3% |
| Transportation & storage | 782.3 | −1.2% | 8,060 | +9.1% |
| Human health & social work | 749.1 | +0.7% | 9,890 | +14.0% |
| Construction | 671.1 | −0.4% | 7,310 | +10.5% |
| Public administration & defence | 650.2 | +1.3% | 11,140 | +9.1% |
| Professional, scientific & technical | 517.2 | +0.3% | 11,100 | +10.0% |
| Administrative & support services | 445.0 | −0.8% | 7,160 | +10.6% |
| Information & communication | 360.5 | +0.7% | 14,690 | +9.4% |
| Financial & insurance | 271.9 | +1.6% | 13,720 | +8.8% |
| Accommodation & food service | 224.1 | +0.1% | 5,990 | +10.8% |
| Other service activities | 169.4 | +3.0% | 7,270 | +11.6% |
| Agriculture, forestry & fishing | 158.7 | −0.6% | 9,010 | +10.3% |
| Water supply; sewage & waste | 157.1 | +0.1% | 7,910 | +9.9% |
| Real estate activities | 144.2 | +2.0% | 8,250 | +9.1% |
| Arts, entertainment & recreation | 139.9 | +1.3% | 8,070 | +9.9% |
| Mining & quarrying | 122.5 | −3.0% | 13,520 | +3.1% |
| Electricity, gas & steam supply | 113.5 | +1.3% | 12,730 | +6.1% |
Section wages other than the national-economy figure are rounded to the nearest PLN 10. Section names abbreviated per PKD 2007.
What it means for business
2025 was a year of stable headcount and strong nominal pay growth — a combination that keeps labour costs rising even without expansion. For employers, the squeeze is on margins; for workers, on whether pay keeps pace with prices.
- Wage pressure is structural, not cyclical. With total employment flat, the 9.1% nominal increase reflects pay rates climbing across the board rather than a hiring boom — a cost most companies will carry into 2026.
- Differentials are compressing. The fastest raises went to lower-paid sections such as health (+14.0%), other services (+11.6%) and accommodation (+10.8%), narrowing the gap to top earners and lifting the wage floor.
- Mining is in retreat. The only section combining a 3.0% drop in jobs with the smallest pay rise (+3.1%) underlines the structural wind-down of coal, even though it remains among the best-paid sections.
- The shift to services continues. Job gains clustered in education, other services, real estate and public administration, while trade, transport and manufacturing trimmed headcount — a gradual rebalancing of where Poles work.
Source: own analysis based on data from Statistics Poland (GUS), “Average employment and wages in the national economy in 2025 — preliminary data”, 18 June 2026. Preliminary data; employment on a full-time-equivalent basis; wages are gross and nominal. Section names abbreviated per PKD 2007.
