According to data from the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, 2024 saw 53 investment projects with a total declared value of around €2.4 billion, down from 74 projects worth €3.2 billion in 2023, with economists expecting another decrease this year.
“The most significant barriers related to the expansion of foreign investors on the Polish market are the rising costs of energy and labor. All industries that require high energy inputs, so-called energy-intensive production, or high labor inputs, will probably see Poland as less and less attractive. On the other hand, those who need significant resources of highly qualified labor will find these resources in Poland. I believe that this is one of the most important factors that attracts foreign investors to our country today,” Prof. Eliza Przeździecka, director of the Institute of International Economics at the Warsaw School of Economics, told the Newseria news agency, as cited by Salon24.
According to a NBP report, in 2023, Poland saw a reversal of the previously observed upward trend in the inflow of foreign investments. At the end of 2023, the state of direct investments located in Poland amounted to PLN 1.36 trillion. The value of transactions related to the inflow of foreign direct investments to Poland decreased by PLN 38.4 billion compared to the previous year, to PLN 119.9 billion from PLN 158.3 billion in 2022.
This was mainly due to lower reinvestment of profits and a negative balance of transactions in debt instruments. This situation may be related to the weakening of the economic situation observed in 2023.
The authors of the report “Foreign direct investments in Poland,” published in October 2024 and co-authored by Prof. Eliza Przeździecka, write that the decrease occurred for the first time after three years of growth. They also point out that this was the second year in a row of a decline in global direct investment flows.
Declines in the value of foreign direct investment in 2023 were recorded by two-thirds of OECD countries and more than half of the 20 largest economies hosting foreign companies, which also includes Poland.
The outlook for 2025 will also depend on the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the year, financial investors have been betting on the scenario of the end of the conflict, and capital has been flowing in a wide stream to European stock exchanges at the expense of Wall Street. However, this capital can easily be redirected in other directions.
“The last three years have shown us that despite geopolitical tensions and our place, because this conflict is taking place across our border, it can, but does not have to, be a deterrent. Many companies see their potential in this, see in this situation an opportunity to exist and find a place, so that after the end of the war, they can start their business and be a significant supplier of goods or contractor of some processes in Ukraine. On the other hand, the end of the war will certainly have a positive impact on the general investment climate, the generally assessed stability from the point of view of security. Security is extremely important for all of us. We do not know how further relations between the United States and Russia, Europe and Russia, the United States and Europe will develop, but we have a very significant place in all this; we are at the center of these geopolitical events,” says Prof. Eliza Przeździecka.
In 2023, the highest inflow of direct investments to Poland came from the Netherlands (PLN 34.2 billion), Great Britain (PLN 24.8 billion), Ireland (PLN 13.3 billion) and Germany (PLN 9.9 billion). In total, this is over two-thirds of the value of all foreign investments. The highest total value of invested capital is held by German companies, but the largest single investor is the French firm Orange. In second place is ArcelorMittal. Third place is occupied by a group of companies owned by the German Porsche-Piëch family, including Volkswagen, Scania and MAN.
