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Polish society is young. From among over 38 million inhabitants, about 15.5 million are below the age of 30, and only 5 million are over 65 (data for 2005). Chart 4.1 presents more information about the age structure of Polish society. The majority of Poles live in cities (23.4 million). The demographic picture of Poland was accurately reflected in the general public census, carried out in 2002. According to the census, for every 32.4 million people aged over 13, around 3.2 had higher education, 1 million had professional higher education, 9.2 million people obtained 2nd level education, vocational education – 7.5 million, and 9.6 million – primary education. Taking into account that in a standard course of education one obtains university-level degree around the age of 24 or 25, this data should be applied to the group aged 25 and above. This will reveal that around 13% of Poles have obtained higher education. This factor increases steadily, as ever more young people choose to go to the university. Moreover the number of universities and colleges grows as well. Ethnically, Poland is one of the most homogeneous countries in Europe. Basing on the results of the above-mentioned census, 96.7% of all Polish citizens declared Polish nationality (leaving aside persons who did not respond to the nationality question, this percentage is even higher – 98.7%). The results, including other – apart from Polish – national groups (according to the declaration of people surveyeyd) are presented in the Chart 4.2 Moreover, the linguistic variation is minor. Polish is a common language spoken all throughout the country, and regional differences are small. Both these factors are important for companies which want to carry out business activities in Poland – they allow to treat the country as a culturally uniform market. Chart 4.1
Population of Poland divided into age groups in thousands, 2005: | Total | 38123 | | 0- 4 | 1755 | | 5- 9 | 1983 | | 10-14 | 2425 | | 15-17 | 1673 | | 18-19 | 1193 | | 20-24 | 3314 | | 25-29 | 3107 | | 30-34 | 2753 | | 35-39 | 2380 | | 40-44 | 2495 | | 45-49 | 3009 | | 50-54 | 2993 | | 55-59 | 2486 | | 60-64 | 1487 | | 65-69 | 1544 | | 70-74 | 1394 | | 75-79 | 1105 | | 80+ | 1030 |
Further details:
http://www.stat.gov.pl/ Chart 4.2 Population of Poland by national groups as declared, in thousands (2002): | Nationality | citizens | | Polish | 36 983.7 | | Silesian | 173.2 | | German | 152.9 | | Belorussian | 48.7 | | Ukrainian | 27.2 | | Roma | 12.9 | | Russian | 6.1 | | Lemko | 5.9 | | Lithuanian | 5.8 | | Kashubian | 5.1 | | Other | 33.8 | | Undeclared | 774.9 | | Total | 38 230.0 |
(Source – based on the General Public Census 2002, published by Central Statistical Office at
http://www.stat.gov.pl/ *High learning ambitions are reflected in the increase of the percentage of people aged 20 to 24 studying both in standard and extramural systems – it increased in the last two years from 39 to 51 per cent among the inhabitants of rural communities, and from 46-61 per cent to 54-70 per cent in the population of towns and cities. Still, the biggest cities stand out, as 67 to 70 persons inhabiting them take advantage of educational services.
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