Question: How many people live in Poland?

Demographics of Poland




The demographics of Poland constitute all demographic features of the population of Poland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
According to the 2011 census by the Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS), at the end of 2011 Poland had a population of 38,538,447[1], which translates into an average population density of 123 people/km2 (urban 1105 per 1km², rural 50 per 1km²). 61.5% of the Polish population lives in urban areas, a number which is slowly diminishing. Poland is the 33rd most populous country in the world (9th in Europe, with 5.4% of the European population). Total population of Poland is almost stagnant (population growth was 0.08%). Average life expectancy was 70.5 for men and 78.9 for women. In 2009, it was expected to be 73.1 for men and 79.5 for women. Population distribution is uneven. Ethnically, Poland is a very homogeneous country, with 96.7% of population being Polish.
A number of censuses have assessed this data, including a national census in 2002, and a survey by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), which confirmed there are numerous autochthonous ethnic groups in Poland. Estimates by INTEREG and Eurominority present a similar demographic picture of Poland but they provide estimates only for the most numerous of these ethnic groups.
Like many developed nations, Poland is ageing. In 1950, the median age was 25.8: half of the Polish population was younger, half older. Today it is 38.2. If current trends continue, it may be 51 by 2050.[2] As the population is ageing, it also started to decline in the 1990s mainly due to low birth rates and continued emigration which impacted the economy, however this has started to change. The number of children born in Polish families (TFR of 1.31, down from 2 in 1990) is one of the lowest in Central Europe, but has started to improve in recent years.[3][4]
Historical population


For many centuries, until the end of World War II in 1945, the population of Poland included many significant ethnic minorities. 
Twentieth century
The population of Poland decreased by about six million due to the losses sustained during the Holocaust and German occupation during World War II (1939-1945), and Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous areas in Europe (next to the populations of Slovakia and the Czech Republic) as a result of radically altered borders and population expulsions at the end of and after the war. The post-war population movements were accompanied by two waves of forced migrations ordered by the Soviet and Polish communist authorities, including the transfers of sizable Polish populations (1944-1946) from the pre-war territories of Eastern Poland, which today form parts of Lithuania, of Belarus and of Ukraine, the transfer of ethnic Ukrainians back to the USSR (1944-1946), and the  expulsion of Germans (1945-1950) to Germany from German provinces which fell into the Soviet Zone of Occupation and which the Soviets then awarded to the communist government in Poland.
Recent trends
According to GUS, about 38,325,000 people live in Poland, however, the same report states that the number of residents living in the country all the time is approximately 37,200,000; with 1,125,000 people living abroad for 6 to 7 months or more. It means that the permanent population may be correspondingly smaller.[5]
In the 21st century many Poles migrated following Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004 and the opening of the EU's labor market; with approximately 2 million (primarily young) Poles taking up jobs abroad.[6]
Vital statistics

Total Fertility Rate from 1800 to 1920
The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.[7]












Vital statistics from 1921 to 1938

[8][9][10]



After World War II
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17][7][18]

Current vital statistics
[19]
[20]
Number of births from January-November 2017 = 373,300 (10,6‰)
Number of births from January-November 2018 = 360,900 (10,2‰)
Number of deaths from January-November 2017 = 369,500(10,5‰)
Number of deaths from January-November 2018 = 378,500 (10,7‰)
Natural increase from January-November 2017 = 3,800 (0,1‰)
Natural increase from January-November 2018 = -17,600 (-0,5‰)
Life expectancy

Source: UN World Population Prospects[21]
Structure of the population
[22][23]
Structure of the population (01.07.2012) (estimates, excluding civilian aliens within the country, but including civilian nationals temporarily outside the country):
Structure of the population (30.06.2015) (estimates):
Demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review.[24]
One birth every 2 minutes
One death every 1 minutes
Net loss of one person every 8 minutes
One net migrant every 53 minutes
Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[25]
Population
38,476,269 (July 2017 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years: 14.76% (male 2,919,353/female 2,757,923)
15-24 years: 10.7% (male 2,113,358/female 2,003,033)
25-54 years: 43.48% (male 8,447,418/female 8,283,757)
55-64 years: 14.21% (male 2,586,097/female 2,880,031)
65 years and over: 16.86% (male 2,560,847/female 3,924,452) (2017 est.)
0-14 years: 14.7% (male 2,910,324/female 2,748,546)
15-64 years: 71.6% (male 13,698,363/female 13,834,779)
65 years and over: 13.7% (male 2,004,550/female 3,245,026) (2011 est.)
0–14 years: 14.8% (male 2,931,732/female 2,769,021)
15–64 years: 71.7% (male 13,725,939/female 13,863,103)
65 years and over: 13.5% (male 1,971,763/female 3,202,131) (2010 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.35 children born/woman (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 215th
Median age
total: 40.7 years. Country comparison to the world: 47th
male: 39 years
female: 42.4 years (2017 est.)
total: 38.5 years
male: 36.8 years
female: 40.3 years (2011 est.)
Population growth rate
-0.13% (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 206th
Birth rate
9.5 births/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 202th
Death rate
10.4 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Net migration rate
-0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 118th
Mother's mean age at first birth
27.4 years (2014 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births. Country comparison to the world: 182th
male: 4.8 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
total: 6.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 77.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 67th
male: 73.9 years
female: 81.8 years (2017 est.)
total population: 75.85 years
male: 71.88 years
female: 80.06 years (2010 est.)
total population: 76.25 years
male: 72.31 years
female: 80.43 years (2012 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 16 years
male: 16 years
female: 17 years (2013)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 20.8%. Country comparison to the world: 62th
male: 20.7%
female: 20.9% (2015 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2012 est.)
Population distribution
Population concentrated in the southern area around Krakow and the central area around Warsaw and Lodz, with an extension to the northern coastal city of Gdansk
Ethnic groups
Polish 96.9%, Silesian 1.1%, German 0.2%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 1.7%
note: represents ethnicity declared first (2011 est.)
Languages
Polish (official) 98.2%, Silesian 1.4%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.3%
note: data represents the language spoken at home; shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census; Poland ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2009 recognizing Kashub as a regional language, Czech, Hebrew, Yiddish, Belarusian, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, and Ukrainian as national minority languages, and Karaim, Lemko, Romani (Polska Roma and Bergitka Roma), and Tatar as ethnic minority languages (2011 est.)
Religions
Catholic 87.2% (includes Roman Catholic 86.9% and Greek Catholic, Armenian Catholic, and Byzantine-Slavic Catholic .3%), Orthodox 1.3% (almost all are Polish Autocephalous Orthodox), Protestant 0.4% (mainly Augsburg Evangelical and Pentacostal), other 0.4% (includes Jehovah's Witness, Buddhist, Hare Krishna, Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Muslim, Jewish, Mormon), unspecified 10.8% (2012 est.)
Nationalities

97.10% of the people of Poland claim sole or partial Polish nationality, and 98.19% declare that they speak Polish at home (2011). Among minority groups, the largest numbers of respondents claimed Silesian nationality , followed by Kashubian , German , Ukrainian , Vietnamese , Belarusian and Russians. [26] The statistics on Ukrainians do not include recently arrived migrant workers, which a report by the National Bank of Poland estimated at around 1 million in 2015.[27]
Largest metropolitan and urban areas

Population numbers by database
Demographics by town

Demographics by voivodeship

Ethnic groups



Religions

Roman Catholic 91%, Orthodox 1%, Other 2%, atheist/non-believer/agnostic 5%, not stated 1% (Eurobarometer 2012)[38]
Languages

Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census)
See also
Health in Poland
Polish diaspora
Notes