At the end of 2024, more than four in five enterprises employing at least 10 people carried out all of their business functions entirely in-house. The propensity to outsource remains low and has actually declined year on year. When companies do contract work out, it is almost always assigned to another domestic entity.
The latest Statistics Poland data on the domestic value chains of enterprises paint a picture of an economy that remains highly vertically integrated. Of the 61,000 surveyed legal entities employing 10 or more people, as many as 50,714, or 83.1%, performed all of their functions internally. A total of 10,286 entities, representing 16.9% of the surveyed population, outsourced functions either fully or partially. Compared with 2023, the share of companies using external providers fell by 1.9 percentage points.
The larger the company, the more likely it is to outsource — although the trend is declining here as well
The propensity to outsource increases with the size of the enterprise. Nearly one in four large entities employing 250 people or more, or 23.2%, used external providers. The figure stood at 18.9% among medium-sized companies employing 50–249 people and 15.8% among small companies with 10–49 employees. Notably, in all three size groups, the share of companies outsourcing functions declined compared with 2023.
There is also a clear difference by ownership structure and legal form. Enterprises with foreign capital outsourced functions more frequently, at 22.8%, than companies with domestic capital, at 15.9%. Legal persons used outsourcing more often, at 18.2%, than natural persons, at 13.6%. By sector, external providers were used most often by companies in construction, 19.3%, and information and communication, 19.2%, and least often by businesses in accommodation and food services, 11.2%, as well as arts, entertainment and recreation, 11.6%.
What companies keep in-house
Regardless of whether certain tasks are outsourced, every enterprise performs at least one function internally. Management and administration are the most widespread, carried out by 85.8% of surveyed entities. Marketing, sales and after-sales services ranked second at 57.9%, followed by production at 49.0%. Companies least often perform engineering internally, 14.1%, information and communication technologies, 12.8%, and research and development, 6.0%.
The distribution of employment shows where the bulk of work is concentrated. Production, although performed internally by fewer than half of companies, employs as much as 32.6% of all people working in the surveyed population. Research and development and engineering, the most advanced functions, account for only a marginal share of human resources. The three least widespread functions — engineering, ICT and R&D — employed just 8.5% of all workers combined.
| Business function | Number of companies | % of companies | Employees | % of employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management and administration | 52,312 | 85.8 | 721,659 | 13.1 |
| Marketing, sales and after-sales services | 35,347 | 57.9 | 1,047,251 | 19.1 |
| Production | 29,887 | 49.0 | 1,790,962 | 32.6 |
| Other business functions | 27,975 | 45.9 | 826,068 | 15.0 |
| Transport, logistics and warehousing | 22,706 | 37.2 | 643,446 | 11.7 |
| Engineering and technical services | 8,598 | 14.1 | 195,453 | 3.6 |
| Information and communication technologies | 7,830 | 12.8 | 209,826 | 3.8 |
| Research and development | 3,649 | 6.0 | 61,514 | 1.1 |
| Total | 61,000 | — | 5,496,179 | 100.0 |
The differences within the surveyed population are substantial. Large companies are far more likely to retain technology-related functions in-house: 47.6% operate ICT internally, compared with 12.8% overall, while 25.6% conduct R&D internally, compared with 6.0% overall. A similar gap is visible by ownership: entities with foreign capital carry out ICT in-house much more frequently, 31.3% versus 9.7%, and R&D, 13.5% versus 4.7%, than domestically owned companies.
Where outsourced functions go abroad
In the Polish model, outsourcing remains primarily domestic. Of the 10,286 companies outsourcing anything externally, 87.1% used only other domestic enterprises. A further 8.4% used both domestic and foreign entities, while only 4.5% used foreign providers exclusively. In total, 1,328 companies outsourced functions abroad.
Among enterprises outsourcing functions outside Poland, 94.8% indicated a European country and 87.0% identified a European Union member state.
The most common destination was Germany, cited by 43.6% of companies outsourcing abroad, ahead of Austria at 17.8% and France at 16.0%. A total of 21.5% of these entities outsourced tasks to countries of the Visegrád Group.
The nature of functions sent abroad differs from those that remain in Poland. Domestic providers were most often entrusted with management, administration and production. Abroad, companies more frequently assigned specialised tasks in information and communication technologies, research and development, and marketing. Importantly, most functions outsourced outside Poland were performed by enterprises belonging to the same capital group, making this intra-corporate outsourcing rather than an opening to the external market. Companies with foreign capital accounted for 65.1% of all enterprises outsourcing functions abroad.
Domestic geography also matters. Functions outside Poland were outsourced most often by companies in the Mazowieckie region, where 20.1% of outsourcing companies used foreign providers, followed by Opolskie at 14.7% and Zachodniopomorskie at 14.3%. The lowest shares were recorded in Lubelskie, 5.7%, and Warmińsko-Mazurskie, 5.9%.
What this means for business
- Polish companies remain highly vertically integrated: 83.1% perform all functions themselves, while the propensity to outsource has fallen further, by 1.9 percentage points year on year.
- Outsourcing increases with company scale and foreign ownership: large entities and businesses with foreign capital outsource functions much more often than smaller, domestically owned firms.
- Knowledge-intensive functions such as R&D, ICT and engineering are both rarely performed internally and most likely to be directed abroad, mainly within companies’ own capital groups.
- When an assignment leaves the country, 87% of cases go to the European Union, with Germany remaining by far the most important destination.
Source: Statistics Poland, “Domestic Value Chains of Enterprises in 2024” (publication dated 25 June 2026), based on the SP annual enterprise survey. Own analysis based on Statistics Poland data.
