According to data from the Central Statistical Office, at the end of June 2026, the population of Poland was 37 million 243 thousand people. This is as much as 90,000 less than at the end of 2025. The rate of actual population loss reached minus 0.24 percent. For comparison, in the first half of 2025 the country's population decreased by 87,000 people, and this indicator amounted to minus 0.23%.
These changes mean that Poland lost on average almost 495 inhabitants every day. The greatest impact on this trend is the negative natural increase - the number of deaths exceeds the number of births by 95.2 thousand people. Statistically, for every 10,000 inhabitants of the country, 51 people died.
Cities are shrinking before our eyes - Łódź and Bydgoszcz are at the forefront of declines
Demographic analysis of the largest Polish cities reveals an even more disturbing picture. Of the eighteen voivodeship capitals, as many as fifteen recorded a significant decline in the number of inhabitants.
The greatest loss affected Łódź, which lost over 3,000 people in six months - that's over 17 inhabitants a day. In terms of percentage, Łódź and Bydgoszcz recorded a similar decline, amounting to approximately 0.49%. Right behind them were Kielce (minus 0.48%) and Gorzów Wielkopolski (minus 0.47%).
Gdańsk turned out to be a surprise, as it had been growing so far, but this time it lost 278 inhabitants, ending the half-year with a population of 489,050 people.
Contrary to appearances, mass emigration of residents is not the main cause of city depopulation. In Łódź, as much as 88 percent population decline is due to natural decline, i.e. deaths over births. In Bydgoszcz, this factor is responsible for approximately 70 percent. precipitate. This means that the aging population and low birth rate have a decisive impact on the demographic crisis in Polish cities.
Krakow – a demographic phenomenon compared to the country
Kraków clearly stands out from the nationwide trend. Of all voivodeship capitals, only three cities - Kraków, Warsaw and Rzeszów - recorded an increase in the number of inhabitants, but the capital of Małopolska achieved an impressive result. Within half a year, Krakow's population increased by 2,879 people, reaching 819,493 inhabitants.
The increase in Kraków was almost fourteen times greater than in Warsaw, which gained only 200 people, and almost eight times greater than the combined result of Warsaw and Rzeszów. The positive net migration for permanent residence played a key role here - 3,194 more people arrived in Krakow than left, and a small natural decline (minus 315 people) did not manage to compensate for this increase.
In Warsaw, the positive net migration amounted to 1,678 people, but it was almost entirely compensated by the natural decline (minus 1,478 people). None of the eighteen voivodeship cities recorded a positive natural increase - even in the growing Krakow, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births.
The situation in villages and across the country
The negative population growth affected not only cities, but also villages. In cities it amounted to minus 62 thousand people, and in villages - minus 33.2 thousand. In the first half of 2026, approximately 115,000 live births were registered - one thousand fewer than a year earlier - and approximately 210,000 deaths, which is an increase of two thousand compared to the same period in 2025.
The Central Statistical Office emphasizes that the natural decline has been observed since 2013 and is the result of the low number of births and the growing number of deaths related to the aging of the population.
Marriages, divorces and migrations – other aspects of demography
In the first half of 2026, over 50,000 marriages were concluded, which means an increase of two thousand compared to the previous year. 38 percent of them were religious marriages. In the same period, approximately 32,000 couples divorced - one thousand more than a year earlier.
