Companies with foreign capital in Poland

Central Statistical Office reported that in 2014 there were 26,464 entities with foreign capital carrying out business activities in Poland. The value of the capital was over PLN 195,796 million. These companies employed over 1.7 million people who indirectly contributed to the total revenue amounting to PLN 1,292,671.90.

More and more companies with foreign capital conduct their business activity by the Vistula River

The number of entities with foreign capital carrying business in Poland is steadily growing. In 2014, 1,369 companies were established, in which non-local capital was located to a greater or lesser extent. This means that in terms of the number of such enterprises, the reported growth increased by 1.3% per year, and in comparison to 2009 – by 19.3%. Detailed data for each year in the last five years is presented in the figure below.In terms of the legal form, more than 9 out of 10 companies with foreign capital operating in Poland adopted a model of a limited liability company. Subsequently, there were joint-stock companies and limited partnerships, whereas branches of foreign companies constituted less than 1%. On the other hand, considering the so-called classes of the size of these companies, in 2014 (just as in the previous years) micro-enterprises were most common, i.e. entities employing up to 9 people. According to data from the Central Statistical Office, their number amounted to 17,643, which means that they accounted for 2/3 of the total number of all enterprises with foreign capital operating in Poland.

The majority of companies with foreign capital were registered in Mazowieckie Voivodeship (almost 2/5 of the total entities registered in Poland), and subsequently in the voivodeships of:

• Silesia (9.2%),
• Lower Silesia (8.8%),
• Greater Poland (8.8%),
• Lesser Poland (6.6%),
• West Pomeranian (5.4%).

The smallest number of companies with foreign capital operated in 2014 in Świętokrzyskie (0.7%) and Podlaskie (0.7%) Voivodeships. Exact figures on the number of registered companies with regard to the administrative division are presented by the project map.

More jobs are available in enterprises with foreign capital

According to the latest data from the Central Statistical Office, in 2014, companies with foreign capital employed a total of 1,747,811 employees. Compared to the previous year, this type of enterprises employed over 119 thousand more people, and in comparison to 2009 the number of the employed increased by almost 20%. Precise data for 2014 on the employment of foreign enterprises broken down by the size of businesses is presented in the table below.

type of company	number of employees
a micro-enterprise (up to 9 employees)	29 579
small companies (10 to 49 employees)	107 140
medium-sized companies (50 to 249 employees)	316 935
large companies (over 250 employees)	1 294 157

The analysis of the above data shows that the average company with foreign capital employed in this period of time an average of 66 people, including 2 employees by an average micro-enterprise, 6 employees by a small business, 114 employees by an average-size company, and 960 by a large company.

The volume of the foreign capital and the main areas of activity in Poland

Statistical calculations show that the share capital of the companies in which foreign capital was located, was PLN 215,594.8 million in 2014, of which non-local capital accounted for a total of more than 90%. By analysing its source, it should be noted that it came from a total of 125 countries, including most of all the countries of the European Union (almost 90% of the total value), in which, like in the previous years, the following countries were leading: The Netherlands, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Sweden.

In terms of the main activities in Poland of the enterprises with foreign capital, these enterprises dealt with the trade and repair of motor vehicles (7,444 entities, representing 28% of all such companies). The order of other areas of activities were as follows:

• processing industry (5,156 entities),
• professional scientific-technical activity (2,503 entities),
• real estate services (2,337 entities),
• construction (2,199 entities),
• information and communication (1,422 entities).

Source: Central Statistical Office, Economic activity of entities with foreign capital in 2014. Warsaw, 2015.