The financial situation of Polish households improved in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to Statistics Poland’s household budget survey. Average monthly disposable income per person reached PLN 3,500, rising by 10.5% in nominal terms and by 6.7% in real terms. Average monthly expenditure per person also increased, reaching PLN 2,015, which was 7.3% higher nominally and 3.6% higher in real terms. As a result, the share of expenditure in disposable income fell from 59.3% in 2024 to 57.6% in 2025.
The data indicate that household incomes grew faster than expenses, improving the average capacity of households to save. This is visible in the long-term trend: since 2012, disposable income per person has risen from PLN 1,278 to PLN 3,500, while expenditure increased from PLN 1,059 to PLN 2,015. Over the same period, the share of spending in income declined significantly, from 82.8% to 57.6%.
Self-employed households had the highest income
The strongest financial position was recorded among households of people working on their own account outside agriculture. Their average monthly disposable income per person amounted to PLN 4,198, while their average monthly expenditure reached PLN 2,270. Both indicators were above the national average — income by 19.9% and expenditure by 12.6%.
At the other end of the scale were pensioner-disability households. Their average monthly disposable income per person stood at PLN 2,541, which was 27.4% below the national average. This group also recorded the highest share of expenditure in income, at 72.1%, which shows a relatively limited ability to build savings.
Farmers’ households were a distinct case. Their average monthly income per person was PLN 4,159, but average expenditure was only PLN 1,359. This meant that the share of expenditure in income was the lowest among all socio-economic groups, at 32.7%.
Income inequality increased slightly
The report also shows a slight increase in income inequality. The Gini coefficient for Poland rose to 0.307 in 2025, after falling in the previous years. The coefficient was lower in cities, at 0.299, and higher in rural areas, where it also reached 0.307.
At the same time, fewer households were in the lowest income brackets. The share of households with disposable income below PLN 2,000 per person fell from 18.9% in 2024 to 15.7% in 2025. The proportion of households with income of PLN 6,000 or more per person increased from 8.6% to 11.8%.
However, the gap between the richest and poorest households remained wide. The average monthly disposable income per person in the top income quintile reached PLN 6,910 and was 5.8 times higher than in the bottom quintile, where it amounted to PLN 1,192. The poorest households spent more than their income on average: their expenditure-to-income ratio was 117.9%, suggesting reliance on savings, borrowing or other external resources.
Food and housing remained the largest spending categories
Food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to account for the largest share of household expenditure, at 25.1% in 2025. This was slightly lower than in 2024, when the share stood at 25.3%.
The second largest category was housing, utilities and energy, which represented 19.4% of total expenditure. This share increased by 0.6 percentage point year-on-year. Among socio-economic groups, housing and energy costs had the highest weight in households of disability pensioners, where they accounted for 24.9% of expenditure.
Transport’s share in household budgets declined the most, by 0.9 percentage point compared with 2024. Overall, changes in the spending structure were moderate, suggesting that the improvement in household finances came mainly from higher incomes rather than a major shift in consumption patterns.
Regional differences remained visible
Household income and spending continued to vary significantly by place of residence. Average monthly disposable income per person in cities was 18.7% higher than in rural areas. Average expenditure per person in cities was 33.4% higher than in the countryside.
The highest average monthly disposable income per person was recorded in Mazowieckie voivodeship, at PLN 4,034. This was 15.2% above the national average. The lowest income was recorded in Opolskie voivodeship, at PLN 2,890, or 17.4% below the national average.
In terms of expenditure, Dolnośląskie voivodeship ranked highest, with average monthly spending of PLN 2,303 per person, 14.3% above the national average. The lowest expenditure was recorded in Świętokrzyskie voivodeship, at PLN 1,549 per person.
Households reported better material conditions
The subjective assessment of household material conditions also improved in 2025. The share of households describing their situation as good or rather good increased to 59.2%, compared with 57.7% in 2024. The proportion of households assessing their situation as bad or rather bad fell slightly, from 4.3% to 4.2%.
The most positive assessments came from self-employed households, where 78.9% rated their situation as good or rather good. The weakest assessments were reported by households of disability pensioners, where only 26.0% gave a positive assessment.
Place of residence also mattered. In cities with at least 500,000 inhabitants, 74.6% of households described their financial situation as good or rather good. In rural areas, the share was lower, at 55.0%, though it also improved compared with the previous year.
More households had internet access and modern equipment
The survey recorded further improvement in household equipment. The largest increases were seen in ownership of game consoles, access to cable or satellite television, dishwashers, internet access and smartphones.
Differences by income level remained clear. In the highest income quintile, 97.0% of households had internet access and 95.8% had a smartphone. In the lowest quintile, the figures were also high, at 89.7% and 89.6% respectively, showing that digital access is now widespread across income groups.
Rural households were more likely than urban households to own cars, bicycles and motorcycles or scooters. They also more often had dishwashers and TV receivers, while urban households had a slight advantage in internet access and smartphone ownership.
Housing conditions remained broadly stable
The average household occupied a dwelling of 89.0 square metres in 2025, slightly less than 89.2 square metres a year earlier. On average, each person had 31.1 square metres of usable floor area and one room.
Households of farmers had the largest dwellings, with an average area of 147.4 square metres. Households of disability pensioners had the smallest, at 69.0 square metres. However, because pensioner and disability pensioner households tend to be smaller, they often had more living space per person than worker households.
Basic sanitary and technical infrastructure was almost universal. Around 99.9% of households had access to a water supply system, 99.5% had hot running water, 99.4% had sewage facilities and a flushing toilet, and 99.2% had a bathroom.
Household support for Ukraine continued to decline
Polish households continued to provide assistance to residents of Ukraine affected by the war, but on a much smaller scale than in 2022. The share of households offering such help fell from 69.3% in the first quarter of 2022 to 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025. In 2025, the highest share of helping households was recorded among employee households.
