Foundations for Growth and Competitiveness 2026

Poland

Economic performance has continued to improve over recent decades and picked up again after the pandemic, with Polish GDP per capita now 30% below the average of upper half of OECD countries. Although productivity still lags OECD levels, the country has seen considerable investment and productivity convergence. Both employment and participation rates have increased in recent years, while the unemployment rate has fallen to record lows.

To sustain growth, Poland will need to counter the headwinds of population ageing, by improving health outcomes, enhancing the skills of the working-age population and increasing further female employment. Strengthening competition in services, management of state-owned enterprises and insolvency regime can add a boost to business growth.

Economic performance

Gaps to the average of the upper half of the OECD countries

Source: Panel A: OECD, Economic Outlook database; Panel B: OECD, Labour Force Statistics database; Panel C: OECD, Economic Outlook and Productivity databases; Panel D: OECD, Economic Outlook and Annual National accounts, GFCF by assets databases.

Selected policy gaps

Source: OECD calculations based on the Foundations for Growth and Competitiveness database.

Health: Improve the efficiency and quality of health care services

Despite significant improvements over the past two decades, life expectancy remains among the lowest in the OECD. The health status of the population is relatively weak, staff shortages contribute to long waiting times and preventable mortality is high. Long-term care is by and large provided informally by households. Poland should continue pursuing a comprehensive approach to reforming the healthcare system to support healthier lifestyles of the population.

Recommendations

✓ Increase the use of incentives in primary care, encouraging key activities, such as prevention and coordinated care, as well as cost-effectiveness.

✓ Rationalise further the hospital network, while ensuring adequate regional health needs.

✓ Continue expanding training places for nurses and set personnel standards in the sector to improve working conditions.

Human capital: Ensure continued upskilling

Educational attainment has increased, both in terms of the share of young adults with tertiary education and a falling share of low educated. Poland ranks among the top OECD performers in the international PISA tests but does less well in terms of skills of the working-age population. The share of adults with high level of digital and language skills lags regional peers. Participation of low-skilled workers in training is modest, and a large share of low-educated employees are on temporary contracts. The lower retirement age for women and caring responsibilities limits their employment and participation rates.

Recommendations

✓ Conduct regular and targeted awareness campaigns providing information on the benefits of adult learning of digital and language skills.

✓ Implement the recently adopted migration strategy to address skills shortages.

✓ Gradually align statutory retirement age for men and women, and increase it in line with life expectancy gains.

Energy: Accelerate energy transition to support cost competitiveness and growth

Decarbonisation of the electricity production is ongoing, but in the context of rising CO₂ allowance costs, faster development of infrastructure capacity and shortening of permitting times for renewables would allow for a more ambitious coal phase out. Current car and fuel taxation lags OECD best practices, while energy intensity of the residential sector has decreased only modestly over the past two decades and residential heating is the main source of particulate air pollution. Progress on all these fronts would increase energy cost competitiveness, reduce negative externalities, improve energy efficiency and thereby support growth. Carbon-related tax revenue could be used to mitigate negative impacts on low-income households.

Recommendations

✓ Increase energy infrastructure capacity and streamline regulations for the development of renewables.

✓ Introduce a comprehensive vehicle taxation, based on the ‘polluter-pays’ principle, and increase excise taxes on motor fuel.

✓ Introduce revenue-recycling of carbon-related tax revenues targeted at low-income households.

Innovation: Strengthen public support for R&D investment

With ongoing convergence, Polish companies face a challenge of moving up the value chains on the backdrop of an ageing and shrinking workforce, shortage of skills, and the transition to less polluting production. Business investment has been below the EU average and some of its regional peers, with relatively low investment in intangibles and ICT equipment, while the innovation capacity remains limited. Nonetheless, a range of support programmes is in place.

Recommendations

✓ Streamline R&D tax incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and access to technical support for innovation subsidies from existing programmes. Increase awareness of various innovation programmes to help facilitate access for small and medium-sized businesses.

✓ Allow startups and companies that initially do not make a profit to benefit, by turning the tax incentives into a carry-over.

Business environment: Improve competition in services, management of state-owned enterprises and insolvency regime

While the overall regulation, as measured by the OECD’s Product Market Regulation indicator, is broadly favourable to competition, Poland lags OECD best practices in the regulation of certain services, such as notaries, lawyers and architects. The insolvency framework could be streamlined to shorten the procedures, and the oversight and management of state-owned enterprises can be improved.

Recommendations

✓ Review the necessity of price regulations for notaries, lawyers, and architects, as well as geographical restrictions for notaries.

✓ In the insolvency regime, lower the time to discharge and lower the length of the stay on assets. Allow courts to specialise in complex business insolvency cases.

✓ Introduce an aggregate annual report on state-owned enterprises and a minimum requirement for a number of independent members on their boards. Strengthen the selection process for board nominations and mandate the disclosure of board and key executive remuneration.

Recent progress on structural reforms

The healthcare system is undergoing several reforms that include the introduction of coordinated care, the reorganisation of the hospital network, the introduction of indicators on healthcare quality and patient safety, and the expansion of training places in nursing. Doctors’ and nurses’ pay has been increased in recent years. Individual training accounts for workers are being piloted in one of the regions. Legislation streamlining the licensing and construction limits for onshore windfarms is currently in the Parliament. A new voluntary “Code of Good Practices” for state-owned enterprises has been published. The government has launched a ‘deregulation’ initiative that reviews the existing legislation with a view to streamlining it.