Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Poland
Poland: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 8.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Poland, 1985–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Poland stood at 8.8%.
The figure is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 34.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Poland peaked at 17.0% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 7.2%, in 1985.
Poland ranks 90th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Poland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 7.2% | — |
| 1986 | 10.2% | +41.5% |
| 1987 | 7.3% | -28.9% |
| 1989 | 8.8% | +21.5% |
| 1992 | 8.4% | -4.7% |
| 1995 | 13.8% | +64.3% |
| 1999 | 12.1% | -12.3% |
| 2004 | 17.0% | +40.8% |
| 2005 | 15.4% | -9.3% |
| 2006 | 14.0% | -9.6% |
| 2007 | 12.9% | -7.9% |
| 2008 | 12.4% | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 12.9% | +3.9% |
| 2010 | 12.4% | -4.0% |
| 2011 | 13.0% | +5.0% |
| 2012 | 13.3% | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 13.5% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 13.3% | -1.3% |
| 2015 | 12.9% | -3.2% |
| 2016 | 9.9% | -23.1% |
| 2017 | 9.3% | -5.8% |
| 2018 | 9.5% | +2.1% |
| 2019 | 8.8% | -8.0% |
| 2020 | 9.2% | +4.7% |
| 2021 | 8.7% | -5.4% |
| 2022 | 8.8% | +1.4% |
| 2023 | 8.8% | -0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 8.4% | 7.2% | 10.2% | 4 |
| 1990s | 11.4% | 8.4% | 13.8% | 3 |
| 2000s | 14.1% | 12.4% | 17.0% | 6 |
| 2010s | 11.6% | 8.8% | 13.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.9% | 8.7% | 9.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Poland
More poverty & inequality data for Poland
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.3 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,895 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 0.6829 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 35.13 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 35.1% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Poland?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Poland was 8.8% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Poland?
- The highest recorded value was 17.0% in 2004.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Poland?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.2% in 1985.
- How does Poland rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Poland ranks 90th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Poland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 34.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Poland data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 50% of the median.