Poland business trends show rising bankruptcies and falling registrations

Economic data from Poland indicates a challenging period for businesses in the first half of 2026. According to Statistics Poland (GUS), corporate bankruptcies rose to 94 in the second quarter, driven primarily by the service, construction, and transport sectors. Additionally, new business registrations saw a significant decline of approximately 9.2% year-over-year, with 80,566 new firms registered compared to 88,728 in the same period of 2025.

The trend is particularly pronounced among sole proprietorships (JDG). In the first half of the year, 108,100 sole proprietorships were closed, an 8.4% increase from the previous year, while 191,400 were suspended. Experts attribute this to rising labor costs, increased social security contributions, and economic uncertainty.

In the HoReCa sector, there are signs of mixed recovery. Total sector debt decreased by 7.5% year-over-year to 1.88 billion PLN. This improvement was largely driven by the hotel industry, which reduced its overdue debt by over 170 million PLN. However, the gastronomy segment continues to struggle, with restaurant debts increasing by 24.4 million PLN to nearly 902 million PLN.