01Key Takeaways
- Poland imported $371.40 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 4.0% from $386.97 billion in 2022, pulling back from a five-year peak.
- Germany supplied 19.9% of imports ($73.91 billion), the same country that ranks as Poland's top export destination too.
- Norway ranked ninth among partners at 2.4% ($9.00 billion), a figure tied to Poland's pivot away from Russian natural gas after 2022.
- Electrical machinery led import categories at 12.4% ($46.04 billion), narrowly ahead of machinery at 12.3% ($45.53 billion), mirroring the two categories that also top Poland's exports.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $246.7B | $254.7B | $335.5B | $387.0B | $371.4B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | $73.9B | 19.9% |
| 2 | China | $51.5B | 13.9% |
| 3 | Italy | $18.2B | 4.9% |
| 4 | United States | $16.2B | 4.4% |
| 5 | Netherlands | $15.1B | 4.1% |
| 6 | France | $12.2B | 3.3% |
| 7 | Czechia | $12.0B | 3.2% |
| 8 | South Korea | $10.4B | 2.8% |
| 9 | Norway | $9.0B | 2.4% |
| 10 | Belgium | $8.5B | 2.3% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $46.0B | 12.4% |
| 2 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $45.5B | 12.3% |
| 3 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $36.3B | 9.8% |
| 4 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $33.1B | 8.9% |
| 5 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $18.8B | 5.1% |
| 6 | Iron and Steel | $13.3B | 3.6% |
| 7 | Pharmaceutical Products | $11.3B | 3.1% |
| 8 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $8.2B | 2.2% |
| 9 | Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories thereof | $8.2B | 2.2% |
| 10 | Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, not Knitted or Crocheted | $6.9B | 1.9% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Imports Pulled Back After a 2022 Peak
Poland imported $371.40 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 4.0% from $386.97 billion in 2022. That 2022 total was the high point of the past five years, and the pullback that followed lines up closely with the pattern already seen on the export side of Polish trade, covered in the companion data for this country.
Imports stood at $246.65 billion in 2019, then barely moved in 2020, edging up to $254.66 billion even as the pandemic disrupted trade elsewhere. The total then jumped to $335.45 billion in 2021 and kept climbing to $386.97 billion in 2022, before easing back to $371.40 billion in 2023. That five-year shape, a flat 2020 followed by three years of strong growth and a modest pullback, tracks the export side of Poland's trade almost exactly. Both flows respond to the same underlying manufacturing cycle rather than moving independently. A country that imports components to build things it then exports will naturally see its import and export totals rise and fall together, since a slowdown in orders from Western Europe reduces both what factories buy and what they eventually ship back out.
Germany and China Supply a Third of Poland's Imports
Germany supplied 19.9% of Poland's imports in 2023, worth $73.91 billion, the same country that ranks as Poland's top export destination as well, covered in the companion export data for this country. China ranked second at 13.9% ($51.52 billion), and Italy followed at 4.9% ($18.21 billion). Together, those three suppliers made up 38.7% of total import value.
The United States added 4.4% ($16.22 billion), and the Netherlands contributed 4.1% ($15.05 billion). France added 3.3% ($12.20 billion), and Czechia contributed 3.2% ($12.04 billion). The South Korea added 2.8% ($10.43 billion), and Norway contributed 2.4% ($9.00 billion). Belgium closed out the top ten at 2.3% ($8.55 billion).
Norway's presence on this list carries specific weight beyond its modest 2.4% share. The Baltic Pipe, which began carrying Norwegian gas to Poland in October 2022, was built specifically to end Poland's dependence on Russian gas supplies, with capacity to cover roughly half of the country's annual gas consumption. That single piece of infrastructure helps explain why a country the size of Norway ranks among Poland's top ten suppliers at all. It connects directly to the mineral fuels import figure described below. A relationship this specific and this recent is a reminder that a single pipeline, contract or policy decision can move a country onto a trade partner list within just a year or two, well before slower structural trends would otherwise produce the same shift.
Electrical Machinery and Machinery Mirror Poland's Export List
Electrical machinery led every import category in 2023, worth $46.04 billion, or 12.4% of the total, narrowly ahead of machinery and mechanical appliances at 12.3% ($45.53 billion). Those are the same two categories that also top Poland's export list, a pattern typical of a manufacturing economy that imports components and partially finished goods before assembling and re-exporting more finished products. Vehicles added 9.8% ($36.33 billion), and mineral fuels contributed 8.9% ($33.08 billion), the category most directly tied to the Norwegian gas supply described above.
Plastics added 5.1% ($18.84 billion), and iron and steel contributed 3.6% ($13.28 billion). Pharmaceutical products added 3.1% ($11.33 billion), and iron and steel articles contributed 2.2% ($8.23 billion). Optical, photographic and measuring instruments added a nearly identical 2.2% ($8.21 billion), and non-knitted apparel closed out the top ten at 1.9% ($6.88 billion).
The overlap between Poland's top import and export categories, electrical machinery, machinery and vehicles all appearing near the top of both lists, reflects a country positioned in the middle of a manufacturing chain rather than at either end of it. Components and semi-finished goods flow in. They get processed or assembled inside Poland. They flow back out again as a different, more finished product, feeding the same manufacturing cycle described at the top of this page.
Taken together, Poland's 2023 import data closely mirrors its export profile in product mix, while adding one distinct thread the export side does not share: a real and growing energy relationship with Norway, built specifically to reduce Poland's reliance on Russian gas. That energy relationship is likely to matter more, not less, in the years immediately ahead of this dataset.