The number of foreigners registered in Poland’s social insurance system (known as ZUS) rose 6% last year to reach 1.13 million. Immigrants now make up almost 7% of all those in the system.
The national groups that saw the largest rise in numbers in 2023 were Belarusians (21,264) and Ukrainians (13,407). They were followed by Indians (4,588), Colombians (3,535), Nepalese (3,481), Filipinos (2,870), Uzbeks (2,026), Turks (1,783), Bangladeshis (1,770) and Indonesians (1,759).
Poland was for a long time a country of emigration, with Poles heading west in search of better opportunities. But over the last decade, the country has experienced immigration on a scale that is unprecedented in its history and is among the highest in Europe.
For the last six years running Poland has issued more first residence permits to immigrants from outside the European Union than any other member state.
The number of foreign workers registered in ZUS has risen around six-fold since 2015, when it stood at less than 200,000. Among the 1.13 million registered by the end of 2023, around two thirds (759,387) are from Ukraine and just over one in ten are from Belarus (129,375).
The next largest groups are Georgians (26,219), Indians (20,549), Moldovans (14,796), Russians (12,399) and Vietnamese (9,837).
However, Georgians and Russians were the national groups that saw the largest fall in numbers last year, with 1,166 and 1,017 fewer of them respectively. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and resultant sanctions, it has been much harder for Russians to live and work in Poland.
In a report released last year, ZUS estimated that, in order to maintain its current ratio of working-age population to retirees, Poland would need to attract almost two million immigrant workers over the next decade.
During last year’s campaign for the October parliamentary elections, immigration became a central issue, with both the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and the main opposition, led by Donald Tusk, accusing one another of being too soft on the subject.
Tusk argued that PiS’s proclaimed anti-immigration stance was hypocritical, given that during its eight years in power it had overseen record levels of immigration. He also pointed to a corruption scandal in the visa system that had apparently allowed some migrants to pay to skip the queue.
PiS, however, argued that, while it had allowed in properly vetted economic immigrants, it had defended Poland’s borders from illegal immigration. It claimed that the pro-EU Tusk would allow Brussels to relocate asylum seekers to Poland from other member states.
The elections saw PiS lose its parliamentary majority and, in mid-December, a new coalition government was formed led by Tusk. Earlier this month, the new prime minister declared that his administration “will not accept a single migrant” under the EU’s proposed relocation mechanism.
"Poland will not accept illegal migrants" under the EU's proposed migration pact, which includes a relocation mechanism, says PM @donaldtusk.
"We will not accept a single migrant. Poland will never be part of such a mechanism" https://t.co/3Xov85mVN2
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 4, 2024
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Main image credit: Tomasz Stanczak / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
