Employed, unemployed and economically inactive persons (preliminary results of the Polish Labour Force Survey in the first quarter of 2026)
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In the first quarter of 2026, economically active persons accounted for 58.7% of the population aged 15-89. This share decreased by 0.3 pp. compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, but increased by 0.5 pp. compared to the first quarter of 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026, the number of economically active persons aged 15-89 amounted to 17 817 thousand, of which: 17 237 thousand constituted employed persons, while 580 thousand – the unemployed. The population of economically inactive persons in this age group comprised 12 538 thousand persons. Among persons at the working age1 , the economically active population numbered 16 954 thousand, including 16 386 thousand employed and 568 thousand – unemployed persons. The economically inactive population at working age amounted to 3 665 thousand persons.
Correction dated 26.06.2026
A correction has been made to the preliminary results of the survey published in the news release for Q1 2026.
Compared with the preliminary results, the following data for Q1 2026 have been revised:
News release text: page 4, point 5 (last bullet)
Previously: • the sections where the most people worked were: Manufacturing – 18.5% of all employed persons (3 182 thousand persons); Wholesale and retail trade – 11.9% (2 043 thousand), Education – 7.9% (1 369 thousand) and Construction – 7.1% (1 225 thousand).
Revised: • the sections where the most people worked were: Manufacturing – 18.5% of all employed persons (3 182 thousand persons); Wholesale and retail trade – 11.9% (2 052 thousand), Education – 7.9% (1 369 thousand) and Transportation and storage – 7,1% (1 219 thousand).
Data tables in the news release:
Table 5. Employed persons aged 15–89
By economic sectors based on PKD 2025/NACE Rev. 2.1, Column V (Q1 2026)
- Row 42 (industry): previously 4 992; revised to 4 973
- Row 43 (services): previously 11 048; revised to 11 067
By selected PKD 2025/NACE Rev. 2.1 sections
- Row 74 (construction): previously 1 225; revised to 1 206
- Row 75 (wholesale and retail trade): previously 2 43; revised to 2 052
- Row 88 (other service activities): previously 569; revised to 579
Table 9. Unemployed persons previously employed who stopped working during the last 8 years
By the economic sectors of the last job based on PKD 2025/NACE Rev. 2.1, Column V (Q1 2026)
- Row 15 (industry): previously 151; revised to 144
- Row 16 (services): previously 243; revised to 250
The LFS results refer to the resident population i.e. staying or intending to stay in the country’s territory for at least 12 months, living in households. Generalisation of the survey results over the general population has been carried out with the use of the data on resident population in Poland, coming from the balances, for which the basis (initial base) are the results of the Population and Housing Census 2021/National Census 2021. Data for the period from the first quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2023 was recalculated in line with the new generalisation basis. See methodological notes at the end of this news release.
118-64 years for man, 18-59 years for women.
