<\/span>OFEs: the best year ever, but less money remains in the funds<\/span><\/h3>\n At the end of 2025, open pension funds managed net assets worth PLN 293.5 billion, approaching the level recorded before the 2014 reform. The Warsaw Stock Exchange had an exceptionally strong year: the WIG gained 47.3% and the WIG20 rose by 45.3%. Given the funds\u2019 dominant exposure to Polish equities, this translated into an average OFE return of nearly 42%, compared with 5% a year earlier. It was the strongest result in the entire history of the second pillar. Over the past five years, OFEs generated a cumulative return of 125%, 81 percentage points above cumulative inflation over the same period.<\/p>\n
The favourable market environment does not alter the long-term trend, however. The so-called safety slider, which gradually transfers OFE assets to subaccounts at the Social Insurance Institution during the 10 years before retirement age, removed as much as PLN 11.9 billion from the funds in 2025, PLN 2.2 billion more than a year earlier. By comparison, new contributions transferred from ZUS to OFEs amounted to only PLN 4.8 billion. The negative balance was offset by dividend income from companies held in OFE portfolios, but the PFSA explicitly warns that the slider will place an increasing burden on the value of OFE-managed assets in the coming years as larger age cohorts enter the process.<\/p>\n\n
<\/span>IKEs and IKZEs: Poles are increasingly willing to save independently<\/span><\/h3>\n The voluntary individual savings segment expanded the fastest. The number of IKE accounts rose by 23.3% to 1.19 million, while the number of IKZE accounts increased by 29.8% to 770,000. Assets held in these products grew by 37.2% to PLN 31.3 billion and by 50.1% to PLN 18.2 billion, respectively. In 2025, 313,100 new IKE accounts and 213,600 new IKZE accounts were opened. This was significantly more than a year earlier and together represented almost 54% of all new pension accounts opened in 2025. The PFSA interprets this growth as a sign of increasing financial awareness among Poles and a growing need to secure their retirement independently of the universal system.<\/p>\n\n
<\/span>PPKs: assets are growing, but so are withdrawals<\/span><\/h3>\n Employee Capital Plans ended 2025, their fourth full year of operation after implementation, with 4.9 million participants and assets worth PLN 45.1 billion, almost 50% more than a year earlier. A concerning signal is the continuing tendency to withdraw funds. The value of PPK withdrawals increased by 41% in 2025 to PLN 2.74 billion, following growth of 25% a year earlier and as much as 174% in 2023. Participants may withdraw money repeatedly without formally leaving the programme, but they lose the state bonus and their capital is reduced by statutory deductions. The PFSA notes that if this practice becomes entrenched, it may reduce participants\u2019 future benefits after the age of 60. It also points out that the statutory review of the PPK system is scheduled for 2026 and should provide an opportunity to make the programme more attractive.<\/p>\n\n
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Chart 2. Number of accounts and value of assets in the pension system (2021\u20132025)<\/div>\n