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Income inequality in the 21st century Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Marek Skawiński

    (Ministry of Finance)

  • Paweł Chrostek

    (Ministry of Finance; Institute of Economics)

  • Paweł Bukowski

    (University College London; London School of Economics; Institute of Economics)

  • Filip Novokmet

    (University of Bonn; World Inequality Lab)

Abstract

This paper combines micro-level tax data, household surveys and national accounts data to provide consistent series of income distribution in Poland over the 2000-2018 period. We find that inequalities in Poland are one of the largest in Europe. In 2018, the share of income accrued to the top 10% is 37.4%, to the middle 40% is 41.1%, and to the bottom 50% is 21.5%. The top 1% earns 13.4% of the total income. The increase in income inequality during this period was largely driven by high business incomes in top income shares. The extent of redistribution in Poland is modest. The tax system is regressive at the top of the income distribution due to lower taxation of business income and the low burden of social contributions. Finally, we show that top income groups are dominated by business owners, males, and big city dwellers, and these groups have been the largest beneficiaries of Poland’s strong growth since 2000. Gender inequality has been high and stable in Poland, with a steeply decreasing female share with income rank (e.g. the share of females in top 0.1% group was 18% in 2018).

Suggested Citation

  • Marek Skawiński & Paweł Chrostek & Paweł Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2023. "Income inequality in the 21st century Poland," MF Working Papers 40, Ministry of Finance in Poland.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:mfplwp:0040
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    File URL: https://www.gov.pl/web/finance/no-40-2023-p-bukowski-p-chrostek-f-novokmet-m-skawinski-income-inequality-in-the-21st-century-poland
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Ahammer & Matthias Fahn & Flora Stiftinger, 2023. "Outside options and worker motivation," Economics working papers 2023-08, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    2. Stefan Bach & Charlotte Bartels & Theresa Neef, 2025. "The Distribution of National Income in Germany, 1992-2019," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1227, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Bartak, Jakub & Jabłoński, Łukasz & Obłąkowska, Katarzyna, 2025. "Fiscal policy preferences: Evidence from conjoint experiments in Poland," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Bach, Stefan & Bartels, Charlotte & Neef, Theresa, 2024. "The distribution of national income in Germany, 1992-2019," IWH Discussion Papers 25/2024, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    5. Małgorzata Szczepaniak & Ewa Wędrowska & Joanna Muszyńska & Grzegorz Markowski, 2026. "Unequal by age and household type: income inequality and demographic aging in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 1-34, March.
    6. Carol Propper & George Stoye & Max Warner, 2023. "The effects of pension reforms on physician labour supply: Evidence from the English NHS," IFS Working Papers W23/26, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Baurin, Arno & Hindriks, Jean, 2023. "Intergenerational consequences of gradual pension reforms," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Cetin, Sefane & Hindriks, Jean, 2023. "Sustainability of pension reforms: An EU-wide political stress," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2023016, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    9. Bozio, Antoine & Breda, Thomas & Guillot, Malka, 2023. "Using payroll taxes as a redistribution tool," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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