Over the period observed, the average monthly gross salary in the Polish national economy increased annually and reached ******** zloty in 2024. Salary changes in Poland Despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Poland's average real wage and salary have been growing steadily. In December 2024, average gross wages reached a growth of *** percent. The monthly salary at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 in the national economy amounted to ***** zloty and in the enterprise sector — ***** zloty.Since 2003 the minimum wage has increased from *** zloty to ***** zloty as of January 2025. As a result, Poland ranked second in Central and Eastern European countries in terms of the minimum wage in 2024. Employment in Poland In 2023, nearly **** million people were working in Poland, and the employment rate has increased by **** percentage points since 2010. As a result, Poland also registered one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union. The average level of unemployment in the EU in 2023 was *** percent. In Poland, it was *** percent.Poles have the average duration of working life in the European Union, working on average **** years. For comparison, the EU average amounted to **** years. However, they are among the busier nations in Europe, working an average of ** hours per week in the fourth quarter of 2023.In the first quarter of 2024, ** percent of Poles were satisfied with their jobs. And the main reasons for changing employers were ****** and the *****************************************.

The minimum gross wage per hour in Poland as of July 2024 amounted to **** zloty. As of January 2025, the minimum hourly wage will increase to **** zloty gross, an increase of **** percent. Purchasing power standards (PPS) in the CEE region From 2009 to 2023, almost every country in Central and Eastern Europe experienced increased GDP per capita in purchasing power standards. For example, Czechia's GDP per capita amounted to ** PPS last year, reaching the highest level among Central and Eastern European countries but lower than the EU average. A similar situation occurred in Poland, one of the countries experiencing an increase in GDP per capita, amounting to ** PPS. On the other hand, the highest actual individual consumption per capita expressed in purchasing power standards in the CEE region was recorder in Lithuania, Slovenia, and Romania. However, all Central and Eastern European countries reached actual individual consumption per capita below the EU average. Inflation’s effect on Poles Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has increased drastically. That caused people to look at their expenditure of salaries more responsibly but also made them want to earn more. From 2021 to 2023, a fair share of Poles felt that food prices and fuel increased the most over the year. In 2022, due to the rising of some products and services in recent months in Poland, ** percent of people bought less and looked for cheaper products during daily shopping. Moreover, around ** percent of Poles gave up higher expenses to put them off for later. Inflation causes people to look for cheaper products. However, only about ** percent of Poles had higher trust in the promotions due to inflation.

In October 2022, the average gross monthly salary for entities employing more than nine persons in Poland amounted to ******** zloty. Half (median = fifth decile) of the employed employees received gross remuneration of up to ******** zloty.

Over the period observed, monthly minimum wages in Poland increased annually and reached ***** zloty (gross) as of July 2024. In January 2025, the minimum gross salary will increase, reaching ***** zloty (*** percent compared to January 2024). Average monthly gross wages and salaries in Poland In 2022, women in Poland earned ** percent less than men. Women’s pay was also lower than the monthly average gross earnings by ***** percent. On the other hand, in 2023, the best-paid profession in Poland was in the mining and quarrying and information and communication industry, earning from ** thousand zloty to over ** thousand zloty gross per month. For example, the average salary of teachers amounted to *** thousand zloty gross per month for a beginning teacher and nearly *** zloty gross for a certified teacher as of January 2024. Average number of hours worked in main and additional jobs in Poland In the fourth quarter of 2023, the average number of hours worked in the primary job in Poland amounted to **** hours per week. In that period, persons employed in the private sector worked almost *** hours longer than in the public sector. Poles spent the most time working in the construction and transportation industry, over ** hours per week. However, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the average number of hours worked in the primary and additional jobs in Poland amounted to **** hours per week. In the observed period, men worked over *** hours weekly longer than women.

As of 2023, the average annual wage of Germany was 48,301 euros per year, a growth of almost 6,000 Euros when compared with 2000. From 2000 until 2007, wages rose by less than a thousand euros, with wage growth accelerating mainly in the period after 2010. Comparisons with rest of the EU Within the European Union Luxembourg had an average annual salary of almost 80 thousand Euros, with Germany having an annual salary comparable to other large European Countries, such as the United Kingdom and France. In neighboring Poland, the average annual salary was just over 39 thousand U.S dollars, meaning that German’s earned, on average, 20 percent more than what their Polish counterparts did. German economy slowing in 2023 While Germany initially had one of the strongest recoveries from the 2008 financial crash and as of 2020 had the largest economy in Europe its economy has started to slow in recent years. For 2023 the German economy is contracted by 0.26 percent, and while 2024 marked a slight improvement, the expectations are that 2025 remains a year of slow growth.

Between 2024 and 2027, wages in Poland were forecasted to increase, but with a much larger rise in 2024 compared to 2026. While wages grew by **** percent in 2024, a more modest increase of *** percent was projected for 2027. The lowest salary growth was forecast for the fourth quarter of 2027 with an increase of only *** percent.  Wage growth trends in relation to other economic indicators in Poland  Between 2008 and 2022, the average gross salary was higher than the median gross salary in Poland. Overall, wage growth in Poland slightly outpaced inflation during the observed period, though inflation exceeded wage growth in the first quarter of 2023. Wages in Europe  By 2024, Poland's average net salary ranked as the ****** highest among all Central and Eastern European countries. There were significant disparities between the country with the highest net salary and the one with the lowest: *******. 

As of 2023, the average taxation rate for a single person without children who earned an average salary in the European Union was 29.67 percent of their total earnings. For a two-earner couple without children earning an average salary it was slightly less, at 29.57 percent, while for a single person without children earning 1.67 times the average salary, the rate of taxation in the EU was 35.16%. Having children greatly reduced the average rate of taxation, with a one-earner couple with two children in the EU only paying out 15.97 percent of their gross household earnings in taxes in 2023. Tax rates in Europe are generally quite high, due to the progressive income tax systems set in place during the 20th century in many countries, which require high taxation in order to fund generous social welfare systems. Belgium was the country with the highest average rates of taxation in 2023, with a high earning single person without children subject to pay almost half of their gross household earnings out in taxes. Other countries in North-western Europe such as Germany, Denmark, and Luxembourg also top the list for highest income taxation rates in Europe, while Cyprus was the country in Europe with the lowest average taxation rates in Europe during the same period. In both Czechia and Poland, single-earner families with two children actually saw the lowest average tax rates, due to the strong pronatalist policies in these countries and tax incentives for traditional single-earner households.

The country with the highest minimum wage rate in Europe during the first half of 2025 was Luxembourg, with a minimum wage of 2638 euros. Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany were the countries with the next highest minimum wages, all above 2000 euros a month, while Albania, Bulgaria, and Montenegro had the lowest minimum wages in the same period.

As of June 2024, ******* recorded the highest average net salary among CEE countries, followed by Slovenia, Czechia, and Poland. ********** earned the least, *** euros net.

In 2022, the highest average net earnings of refugees from Ukraine in Poland occurred in the trade sector, reaching 636 euros per month.

Construction wages and salaries in Poland increased by over *** percent in 2024. According to the latest figures, the annual labor costs amounted to roughly ****** euros per employee in 2022. However, labor costs increased in the following years. Norway was one of the countries with the highest construction labor costs in Europe.

In Central and Eastern Europe, Python and C++ software developer salaries were the highest, reaching nearly ** thousand U.S. dollars a year in Ukraine as of 2023. At the same time, in Poland, Node.js developers had the highest annual salaries, reaching nearly ** thousand U.S. dollars. In comparison, Polish Unity software developers earned only **** thousand U.S. dollars.

The median gross monthly basic salary for managers in business service centers in Poland in 2023 was *** thousand euros. At the same time, Junior Specialists earned more than *** thousand euros per month.

In 2024, basic salaries (excl. bonuses) in the Polish Army ranged from 4.6 thousand zloty per month to nearly 17.8 thousand zloty per month gross. In addition to soldiers' base pay, there are also various allowances and benefits. These include:

thirteenth salary; seniority, special, compensation and service allowances; incentive allowance for non-commissioned officers and privates; separation allowance - in 2022 it's PLN 540 per month - and reimbursement for travel expenses to your family if you serve away from home; incentive benefit: PLN 1,500 for soldiers with seniority of 25 to 28 years and 6 months, and PLN 2,500 for soldiers with seniority of more than 28 years and 6 months; discretionary awards; jubilee awards given after 20 or more years of service (in the amount of 75% to 300% of monthly salary, including fixed allowances).

In 2021, Latvians with a net monthly salary could buy the largest apartment size among the CEE countries, i.e., 0.81 square meters. In contrast, Belarusians could afford to buy 0.39 square meters of an apartment for a monthly salary. However, in many countries, the purchasing value has decreased due to significant increases in property prices in recent years, which was disproportionate to the growth in salaries.

Poland recorded the highest purchasing power of statutory wages in Central and Eastern Europe, at ***** PPS euros. Slovenia and Lithuania followed Poland. The cost of living in most Central and Eastern European countries is below average compared to the rest of the European Union.

Between 2011 and 2023, the median equivalised disposable income per inhabitant by purchasing power standard (PPS) in Poland increased steadily from 8.32 euros to 16.55 euros.

In the shown Central and Eastern European countries, senior AI and blockchain developers had the highest annual salaries as of 2023. At the same time, software developers working in Poland, Romania, and Czechia had the highest salaries overall.

The average hourly labor cost in the European Union in 2023 was 31.8 euros, with the highest average among EU member states ranging from 53.9 euros in Luxembourg, to approximately nine euros in Bulgaria.

In December 2019, Poles living in a household with a net income ranging between 2000 and 3000 euros per month declared the highest spending on sports apparel and equipment per annum.