Poland on the way to SDGs. Report 2025

Income inequality is one of the many challenges that sustainable development faces. Among the tools used to better understand and measure it, is the Gini coefficient, which shows income distribution in a given society. It ranges from 0 to 100; the higher the score, the greater the inequality in income distribution. Zero means perfect equality (when everyone earns the same income) and 100 extreme inequality (when all income goes to one person). In the European Union, income distribution has improved only slightly since 2015, with the Gini coefficient decreasing from 31 to 29. The greatest income inequality is currently observed in Bulgaria (38) and the lowest in Slovakia (22). In Poland, income is distributed more evenly than in the EU on average; it has also improved since 2015. The Gini coefficient has decreased from 31 to 26, which promoted Poland to 6th place among EU member states in terms of the lowest income gap (it ranked 17th in 2015).

Poland still belongs to the group of EU countries that are far behind the wealthiest economies in the region. The GDP per capita in Poland is over 31,000 PPS¹, which is 79% of the European Union average (in 2015, it was 70%).

¹ The PPS is a common artificial currency adopted in the EU for the purpose of international comparisons, which makes it possible to eliminate any differences between countries.

Income in Poland is now distributed somewhat more evenly than in 2015, but the differences occurring within the country are still substantial. The greatest income inequalities are observed in Mazowieckie Voivodship, where the Gini coefficient equals 29. In other regions, the level of inequality is close to the national average or lower. The most equal incomes were recorded in the following voivodships: Opolskie, Śląskie and Podkarpackie, where the Gini coefficient is 22.

Mazowieckie stands out from other voivodships with its GDP per capita higher by 122% than the EU average (in 2015, it was higher by 111%). This is thanks to the Warsaw metropolitan area, where the GDP per capita reaches 155% of the EU average, while in the rest of the voivodships, it is only 70%. In the other voivodships, GDP per capita ranges from 83% of the EU average in Dolnośląskie to only 53% in Lubelskie and 54% in Warmińsko-Mazurskie.

The S80/S20² income quintile share ratio also shows that income inequality in the Polish society is lower than in 2015. In 2024, the income earned by the wealthiest 20% of persons was nearly four times higher than that earned by the 20% with the lowest income (in 2015, it was nearly five times higher). In the European Union, however, the scale of the decrease in this ratio was smaller (it fell from 5.2 to 4.7). The greatest improvement in this relation was noted in Poland and Slovakia. Since 2015, the share of the 40% of the poorest Polish population in disposable income has been on the rise, increasing from 21.1% to 23.6% (in the EU, it fluctuates around 21-22%).

Inequalities between the residents of urban and rural areas in Poland are greater than in the EU on average, especially in terms of the risk of poverty or social exclusion. This is mainly due to the relatively low, compared to EU countries, risk of these phenomena occurring among urban residents. The percentage of persons prone to poverty or social exclusion is 12% in cities and 14% in towns and in the suburbs. These figures are among the lowest in the EU, where the average exceeds 20%. In contrast, nearly 21% of persons living in rural areas are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which is similar to the EU average of slightly above 21%.

² The ratio of the total income earned by the 20% of people with the highest income (the highest quintile) to the total income earned by the 20% of persons with the lowest income (the lowest quintile).