Poland’s balance of payments in January 2025

NBP data: In January 2025, the current account of the balance of payments posted a surplus on the service account (PLN 15.3bn), and deficits on the trade in goods account (PLN 6.4bn) the primary income account (PLN 6.6bn) and the secondary income account (PLN 3.0bn).

Preliminary data on Poland’s balance of payments in January 2025, released on 17 March 2025, show a deficit of PLN 0.7bn on the country’s current account. In the corresponding month of 2024, the balance was positive and stood at PLN 6.9bn.

In January 2025 the divergence between the nominal growth in imports and exports intensified. On the one hand, the downward trend in exports continued, on the other, the upward trend in imports was further consolidated. According to preliminary data, the value of export goods diminished by 3.3% on the corresponding month of 2024 and stood at PLN 115.8bn. The value of goods imports rose by 7.0% compared to January 2024 and amounted to PLN 122.2bn, the sharpest rise in two years. These developments reflect, among others, the difference in economic growth between Poland and its main trading partners and the growing competition in the EU from non-European economies.

As in previous months, the biggest driver of the fall in the value of exports in January 2025 was a significant fall in foreign sales of means of transport. Sharp declines were seen in exports of delivery vehicles, passenger cars, road tractors and automotive parts. The declines in the exports of the remaining categories were much smaller (except for fuels). On the other hand, higher food prices in the international market were conducive to a rise in exports of agricultural products.

In January 2025, the greatest contributor to the higher value of imports was a substantial rise in imports of consumer goods. The increase in imports also continued in the category of agricultural products. Moreover, fuel deliveries in January 2025 were higher than in previous months. In contrast, vehicle imports saw a sharp decline, related to, among others, a fall in deliveries of automotive parts.

Exports of services stood at PLN 39.3 billion, up by PLN 2.7 billion (i.e. 7.3%), on the corresponding month of 2024. Imports stood at PLN 24.0bn, having increased by PLN 1.6bn (or 7.2%) on January 2024.

The balance of primary income was negative at PLN 6.6bn. Compared to the corresponding period of 2024, the balance improved by PLN 5.2bn. The improvement in the deficit on primary income was primarily due to the increase in NBP income on reserve assets, and a surplus on the remaining primary income. The negative balance of the primary income was also influenced by foreign direct investors’ income on their equity investment in Polish entities, which amounted to PLN 11.5bn, and the payment of income from portfolio investment (1.5bn) and other investment (2.4bn).