This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.
Last Published: 6/13/2019

The Polish Information Technology Market (in $ Millions) 
Source: BMI Research 

 2017 2018 (estimate) 2019 (forecast) 2023 (forecast) 
Total IT Market Value 17,450 18,890 19,000 27,500 
Hardware   3,193    3,230  2,560  2,700 
Software   3,211   3,608  3,940  6,300 
Services 11,046 12,052 12,500 18,500 
The IT market currently accounts for 3.3 percent  of  Polish GDP and it is expected to reach 3.5% in 2021.  Government expenditures are less than 2.0% of GDP, however, EU funds supplement this amount by up to 85% of a project’s actual value.  The IT market forecast for the coming years is optimistic, as EU funds continue to finance technological investments.   Market development is driven by the digitization strategies of the public and business sectors and the need to invest in labor-saving or productivity maximizing solutions. 
In 2019 total information technology expenditures in Poland are expected to reach USD 19 billion. Due to the fluctuation of the Polish currency, while the market y/y growth calculated in Polish zloty exceeded 10%, it grew by 6.9% when calculated in USD. Nevertheless, the market has completely recovered from a rapid decrease in value experienced in 2016.  According to BMI Research, the total IT market value is expected to reach USD  27.5 billion in 2023.   
The overall mid-term forecast for the whole sector is very positive, although it varies substantially depending on the segment.     The hardware segment is at estimated at $2.6 billion in 2019, but is  expected to reach barely $2.7billion in 2023, with 2020 seen the strongest growth year due to the official end of support for Windows 7.  The hardware segment suffers smartphones taking over many traditional PC functions.  Software sales, estimated at almost USD 4 billion in 2019, are expected to reach the value of USD 6.3 billion . IT services, are expected to rise from USD 12.5 billion in 2019 to USD 18.5 billion in 2023.           

Software development and services are driving sales growth in the IT market, and, while cloud computing services, including software, infrastructure and platform services, are they key trend in the enterprise market. 

Value of U.S. exports to Poland (In $ million) 

Source: Global Trade Atlas 
 
Commodity 2016 2017 2018 
 		2019 (forecast) 
 
HS #8471: Automatic Data Process Machines & Parts Thereof; Magnetic or Optical Readers, Machines for Transcribing and Processing Coded Data   65.7 98.1   110.5 124 
HS #8542: Electronic Integrated Circuits & Micro assembly; Parts Thereof 18.9 27.4   71.9 80.1 

 
Note: The above statistics do not reflect the actual number of all U.S. exports to Poland. Many exporters first ship their products to regional hubs and then distribute them to other European countries.  

Portable Digital Automatic Data Process Machines Not > 10 Kg (HS 847130) represent over 33% of the #8471 category’s exports to Poland.  Other popular products include Digital Processing Units (HS 847150),  Automatic Data Processing Units (HS 847180) and Automatic Data Processing Storage Units (HS 847170). A recent slowdown of storage unit exports is attributed to the growing popularity of cloud solutions. In the HS8542 category, Processors and Controllers, Electronic Integrated Circuits products (HS 854231) represent 67% of the U.S. exports to Poland.  
 
Trends such as technological integration, streamlined access to services, outsourcing, cloud computing, IT security, and IoT reflect new market opportunities for Polish suppliers. 
 
IoT expanded substantially and reached USD 3.1 billion in 2018.  The main areas of growth include: fleet monitoring, intelligent energy networks, intelligent transportation, and process management. Cloud services are growing seven times faster than the overall IT market.  Approximately half of all small and medium size businesses already use cloud computing.  Cloud computing should benefit from the integration of data security and privacy regulations across Europe, with Poland potentially becoming a low-cost regional services hub. 
 
The main public institution responsible for the development and implementation of digital policy is the Ministry of Digital Affairs.  The goal of the Country Integrated IT Development Program is to create a public information system that provides efficient electronic services and interoperability of existing and new IT public systems and eliminates duplicative functions.  In order to evaluate the progress and decide on potential amendments to this Development Plan, the Ministry is currently conducting public consultations, to be concluded by the end of May.   
The government has opted to divide larger IT efforts into small projects that would be implemented gradually or apply them only to contract services. The goal of this policy is to stimulate competition and allow smaller companies to move away from projects that can only be implemented the market’s largest players. .  
The Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) is the regulatory authority responsible for telecommunications, postal activities, and resources management.  In April 2019, UKE presented the initial requirements for the planned 5G networks for 3.7 GHz frequency and plans to conduct further public consultations before auctioning the frequencies, which is expected  later in 2019.  The 700 MHz frequency for 5G networks is expected to be distributed by 2022, after settling the dispute with Sferia operator and introducing legislative changes.   
 
In the meantime, the major mobile operators, T-Mobile, Orange and Play, have already started to introduce 4½ or 5G solutions on an experimental basis.    
 
Manufacturing, energy, trade, tourism, public sector, services, transportation, and communications are the industries actively investing in IT. With the increase in larger IT investors, small- to medium-sized companies have become major clients for vendors, purchasing more advanced computer equipment and investing in enterprise software. Financial services, banking, and telecommunications have all spent large amounts of money on sophisticated projects.  Their future investments mainly depend on the availability and accessibility of new technologies, as well as the regulations imposed upon them.  

Leading Sub-Sectors 
Cloud computing, IoT, and cybersecurity are the sub-sectors with best potential for American exporters.  Leaders in specialized software include software for vertical markets, internet, and e-commerce solutions, specifically in IT security.   
U.S. suppliers of IT services interested in entering the Polis h market should consider working with Polish partners, as Polish project sponsors usually mandate that any assistance should be available locally and in the Polish language. 
 
Opportunities 
The public sector digital technology policy and Poland’s IT development plans are coordinated by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, but individual ministries or institutions can be responsible for projects in their specializations specialty areas.  . Project opportunities include investments in e-administration and open government, as well as training and other activities aimed at increasing the digital literacy of Polish society.  
The EU allocated USD 2.5 billion for the implementation of the Digital Poland Operation Plan from 2014 to 2020. Funds are available to central administration, local governments, universities, businesses, non-profits, associations, and cultural institutions through a variety of programs executed by the Polish government. Additional EU funding is also available for IT projects through regional programs.   

Web Resources 
Ministry of Digital Affairs 
UKE – Office of Electronic Communications 
PIIT – Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications 
KIGEiT – the National Chamber of Electronics and Telecommunications 
PIKE – Polish Chamber of Electronic Communication 
 
Trade events 
There are no general IT-sector-oriented trade events country-range in Poland. Instead, there are many sectoral IT events and conferences, usually devoted to specific verticals and end-users.  Information on these events is available on request 
 
Contacts for Marketing and Advertisement 
Magazines: IT Reseller and CRN   Elektronika B2B, Automatyka   
IDG Polska publisher of Polish editions of ComputerWorld, PC World and CxO, as well as ComputerWorld Top 200 yearly report on the Polish IT market. IDG also organizes technology conferences, e-seminars and debates, and offers expert market research as well as content and email marketing services 
PMR Research - market research, marketing and specialized market entry services 
For more information about the IT industry sector, please contact:  
 
U.S. Commercial Service Poland 
Commercial Specialist: Maria Kowalska 
E-mail: maria.kowalska@trade.gov 

 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.