Poland to reform license plate system by 2026

Poland is facing a shortage of available license plate combinations due to the rapid growth of vehicle registrations. This issue is particularly acute for owners of vehicles imported from North America, which often feature different structural dimensions for identification markings compared to European models.

To address the limitations of the shortened license plates (305x114 mm) introduced in 2018—which only allow for four symbols and have reached capacity in high-traffic regions—new changes to the registration system are expected to be implemented by 2026.

Market data from the Samar Institute highlights the scale of the import trend: in the first seven months of 2026, 46,572 used vehicles were registered from the United States, representing a 6.8 percent year-on-year increase. This follows a significant jump in 2025, when 76,996 cars were imported from the US.