– Ukrainians have traditionally been the largest group for several years. In Lower Silesia, they account for approximately 82 percent of all foreigners paying social insurance contributions – says Iwona Kowalska-Matis, the Regional Press Spokesperson for ZUS in Lower Silesia. – A year ago, we had 31,000 registered workers from Ukraine; today, there are already 49,000 of them. It is therefore hardly surprising that Ukrainian can be heard in many Lower Silesian companies, and advertisements in this language aimed specifically at this nationality no longer surprise anyone – the spokesperson adds.
Only Warsaw has more Ukrainians working there than Lower Silesia. Across Poland, nearly 610,000 foreigners pay contributions to ZUS. This means that the number of foreigners insured with ZUS has increased fivefold since 2014. The fastest-growing group is Ukrainians – over five years, their number grew almost thirteenfold, from 35,500 at the beginning of 2014 to 454,500 today. The number of Belarusians registered with ZUS is now five times higher, rising from 6,500 to 36,000. The number of Moldovans has increased almost sevenfold, reaching nearly 9,000.
– Paying contributions by foreigners is beneficial not only for our social insurance system but also for the foreigners themselves. Their contributions support the finances of the Social Insurance Fund, while in return, in the event of illness, they can receive free medical treatment and sickness benefits. In addition, they build up pension capital – explains Kowalska-Matis.
More than half of workers from outside Poland registered in the social insurance system are employed under employment contracts, while 20,000 run their own businesses. The remaining people are employed under civil-law contracts. The largest number of foreigners are registered at the three ZUS branches in Warsaw, the Wrocław branch, and two ZUS branches in Poznań.