Poland on the way to SDGs. Report 2025

Efficient, transparent and trustworthy public institutions form the foundation of a well-functioning state. The How's Life? OECD survey shows that trust in the government in Poland is relatively low compared to other EU countries, with the data showing significant fluctuations over time. Among the EU member states, the highest level of trust in the government is reported by residents of Luxembourg and Finland, and the lowest by those of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.

Data from the World Bank also demonstrate the level of efficiency of public institutions. The quality of governance is assessed by the World Bank on the basis of Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) analyses in all countries around the world. The regulatory quality and the effectiveness of governance are particularly important for assessing the efficiency of public institutions. The WGI take into account several other issues, including the control of corruption. The values of the indicators range from -2.5 (worst result) to +2.5 (best result).

The World Bank defines regulatory quality as the government's ability to design and implement regulations which promote the development of the private sector. In practice, it is concerned with how well the law supports entrepreneurship and innovation in a given country. According to the latest data, in 2023, the regulatory quality in Poland was 0.8 points, which was slightly lower than in 2015 (1.0 points). However, Poland improved its position in the ranking of EU countries, advancing to 16th place. The law implemented in Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands is rated the highest, while the lowest in Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

In terms of governance effectiveness, which includes the quality of public services, the quality of bureaucracy, the competence of civil servants and the administration’s political independence, Poland also performs worse than a few years ago. In 2023, it scored 0.4 points compared to 0.7 points in 2015, placing it among the five EU countries with the lowest governance effectiveness. Denmark achieved the highest result (2.0 points), while Romania the lowest (-0.1 points) in this respect.

Corruption, which many countries struggle with, leads to a loss of public trust in the state and reduction in its income. At the international level, this phenomenon is monitored also by the World Bank. Each year, it publishes data on corruption control, which is one of the six WGI indicators. It shows to what extent public authorities are effective in preventing abuse, also in terms of minor and serious cases of corruption and the appropriation of the state by the elites. The index ranges from -2.5 (poor corruption control) to +2.5 (very good corruption control). In 2023, Poland scored 0.6 points, i.e. slightly less than in 2015 (0.7 points). Low scores (around 0 points and below) are typical for Eastern European countries, while the highest scores (above 2.0 points) are achieved by Scandinavian countries.

Information on corruption is also provided by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International, an organisation that fights corruption worldwide. The index measures the perceived level of corruption in the public sector, and it ranges from 0 (very high corruption) to 100 (maximum transparency of the system). Every year, Transparency International publishes a report based on the assessments of experts, analysts and entrepreneurs concerning the scale of the phenomenon in around 180 countries worldwide. In 2024, Poland scored 53 points, i.e. fewer than in 2015 (63 points). As a result of the declining ratings in Poland and a stable EU average (above 60 points), the gap between Poland and the EU gradually widened. Apart from Poland, the ratings that decreased the most were for Malta (down by 14 points), Hungary (down by 10 points), and Austria and Sweden (down by 9 points each). Denmark, Finland and Luxembourg remain the highest rated countries in terms of perceived corruption.