Poland Population



Poland today is ethnically almost homogeneous (98% Polish), in contrast with the pre-World War II period, when there were significant ethnic minorities– 4.5 million Ukrainians, 3 million Jews, 1 million Belorussians, and 800,000 Germans. The majority of the Jews were murdered during the German occupation in World War II, and many others emigrated in the succeeding years.

Most Germans left Poland at the end of the war, while many Ukrainians and Belorussians lived in territories incorporated into the U.S.S.R. Small Ukrainian, Belorussian, Slovakian, and Lithuanian minorities reside along the borders, and a German minority is concentrated near the southwest city of Opole.


38,482,919 (July 2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿35

﻿Age structure:

0-14 years: 15% (male 2,964,995/female 2,802,278)
15-64 years: 71.6% (male 13,713,078/female 13,845,251)
65 years and over: 13.4% (male 1,966,406/female 3,190,911) (2009 est.)

﻿Median age:

total: 37.9 years
male: 36.1 years
female: 39.7 years (2009 est.)

﻿Population growth rate:

-0.047% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿210

﻿Birth rate:

10.04 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿195

﻿Death rate:

10.05 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿64

﻿Net migration rate:

-0.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿110


urban population: 61% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: -0.3% annual rate of change (2005-10 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

﻿Infant mortality rate:

total: 6.8 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: ﻿172
male: 7.52 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

﻿Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 75.63 years
country comparison to the world: ﻿75
male: 71.65 years
female: 79.85 years (2009 est.)

﻿Total fertility rate:

1.28 children born/woman (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿209

﻿HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:


country comparison to the world: ﻿127

﻿HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

20,000 (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿79

﻿HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 200 (2007 est.)

country comparison to the world: ﻿120

﻿Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea
vectorborne disease: tickborne encephalitis


noun: Pole(s)
adjective: Polish

﻿Ethnic groups:







definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.7% (2003 est.)

﻿School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 15 years
male: 15 years
female: 16 years (2006)

﻿Education expenditures:

5.5% of GDP (2005)

country comparison to the world: ﻿51