Figures show a net loss of 18,000 Poles in the year to June 2024, with 25,000 departing compared with just 7,000 arrivals.
Polish people queuing for the coach leaving Victoria Coach station in London for PolanD [FILE PIC] (Image: Steve Bainbridge)
Thousands of Polish migrants are leaving the UK, with many declaring “it’s not the same Britain,” citing mounting issues like rising crime, cumbersome bureaucracy, and a general decline in living standards. This dissatisfaction contrasts sharply with the economic vitality and rapidly improving infrastructure of their homeland, triggering an accelerating exodus.
Slawek Frankowski, 35, a welder who made his life in Portsmouth, spoke of the country changing beyond recognition. He and his wife, Sylwia, who recently lost her warehouse job, finalised their decision to return to Poland in November 2023. Their final months in Hampshire were overshadowed by safety fears, prompted by frequent police activity and reported stabbings near their family home in Fareham.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Image: Getty)
Mr Frankowski told the Daily Mail: “It wasn’t the same Britain we came to for a better life 15 years ago. When we first arrived, the streets felt safe and work was easy to find. In the end, we would look outside almost every week and see police, fire engines and ambulances attending incidents, and the atmosphere had completely changed.”
The family sold their maisonette for £200,000 and undertook the long drive back to a village near Gdansk. Mr Frankowski is now overseeing the construction of a four-bedroom house on family land and is confident of securing well-paid employment quickly in the burgeoning local industry. Their six-year-old daughter, meanwhile, has adapted well to a Polish school, which emphasises traditional discipline and homework.
This trend marks a sharp reversal from the optimistic early 2000s, when Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004 triggered one of the largest peacetime mass movements in modern European history. More than one million Poles arrived in Britain over the following years, filling critical labour shortages across sectors from construction and plumbing to hospitality and the service industries.
Hardworking and reliable, they quickly became indispensable to the UK economy. The figure of the stereotypical “Polish plumber,” once a symbol of both the perceived threat and the economic benefits of free movement, has become an enduring cultural reference.
Official figures now confirm the shift, showing a net loss of 18,000 Poles in the year to June 2024, with 25,000 departing compared with just 7,000 arrivals. The UK’s Polish population has consequently dropped below the 800,000 mark to 750,000 and continues its steep fall.
As reported by the Daily Mail, returnees are primarily drawn by Poland’s resurgence, fuelled by high investment and low unemployment.
Economic forecasts predict that Poland’s GDP per capita will surpass that of Japan by 2026, driven by lower taxation for businesses, a more affordable cost of living, and significant infrastructure growth in regional hubs like Gdansk.
Gdańsk, a symbol of this revival, now boasts modern international airports, high-speed rail links, and advanced business hubs that host global firms. Its unemployment rate is below 3 %, supported by a mix of skilled repatriates and selective economic immigration.
This represents a vastly improved standard of opportunity compared to Britain, the migrants left behind, they argue.
In the UK, many Polish workers now cite spiralling high costs, confusing bureaucracy, and punitive taxation as significant push factors. A Sunderland-based Polish plumber, for example, complained bitterly that heavy taxes and stifling regulations now make running a small business far more difficult than it was 10 years ago.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has publicly noted that repatriates often find they can earn more at home, particularly in new, high-growth sectors such as renewable energy and future nuclear projects.
This development highlights a significant and painful loss of skilled workers for the UK, further exacerbating ongoing labour shortages and contributing to the national debate on Britain’s direction.
