Half of Poles believe that the situation in the country is moving in the wrong direction, according to a CBOS survey. The polling institute stressed that “virtually all of the social sentiment indicators analysed deteriorated in July.” When it comes to the political situation, the current government has never performed so poorly during its present term.
In the first half of July, 28 per cent of respondents believed that the situation in Poland was moving in the right direction, while 50 per cent held the opposite view and 22 per cent had no opinion on the matter, according to the CBOS poll. Assessments of the country’s situation deteriorated compared with June.
A month earlier, in mid-June, 31 per cent of respondents believed that the situation in Poland was moving in the right direction, while 48 per cent disagreed. A further 21 per cent had no opinion. In July, the proportion of respondents assessing the situation positively fell by 3 percentage points compared with June, while the share giving a negative assessment rose by 2 points.
The situation in the country is assessed negatively more often than average by people aged between 35 and 44, as well as by residents of rural areas. Assessments are also influenced by how respondents perceive their own financial circumstances. Among those who describe their financial situation as poor, 76 per cent assess the situation in the country negatively. Among those who regard their financial circumstances as good, 45 per cent give the country’s situation a negative assessment.
Perceptions of the overall situation in Poland also depend on respondents’ political preferences. Positive assessments outweigh negative ones among supporters of the parties forming the government: Civic Coalition and the New Left. Critical assessments dominate among supporters of opposition parties, with the highest proportion recorded among voters of the Confederation of the Polish Crown.
Political situation rated worst since government took office
Expectations regarding the overall situation in the country over the next year are more pessimistic than they were a month ago. The proportion of people expecting the situation to deteriorate rose from 29 to 30 per cent. The largest group, 46 per cent, up 2 percentage points, believes that the situation will remain unchanged, while 14 per cent expect an improvement, down 4 points.
Perceptions of the political situation have also worsened over the past month. The proportion of respondents assessing it negatively rose from 45 to 51 per cent, which, according to CBOS, is the highest share of critical responses recorded during the current government’s term. At the same time, the proportion of respondents describing the political situation as good fell from 13 to 11 per cent. Meanwhile, 33 per cent of respondents, 3 percentage points fewer than in the previous month, described the current political situation as “neither good nor bad.”
Expectations regarding Poland’s political situation are also worse than a month ago. The proportion of respondents expecting it to deteriorate over the next 12 months rose from 26 to 29 per cent. The share of optimists remained almost unchanged, at 11 per cent compared with 10 per cent in June, while 52 per cent expect neither an improvement nor a deterioration over the coming year, down 3 percentage points.
Assessment of the economic situation
The proportion of respondents who assess Poland’s economic situation positively fell to 34 per cent, 3 percentage points lower than in June. Nevertheless, more people still assess the economic situation as good than as bad, with negative assessments standing at 30 per cent, up 3 points. As CBOS noted, positive assessments have consistently outnumbered negative ones since May 2025. Nearly one in three respondents, 32 per cent, described the current economic situation as “neither good nor bad.”
A deterioration in the economic situation over the next year is feared by 26 per cent of respondents, 2 points more than in June. An improvement is expected by 19 per cent, down 2 points, while nearly half, 47 per cent, unchanged from June, expect the situation to remain the same.
A total of 63 per cent of respondents expressed satisfaction with their family’s standard of living, down 3 percentage points, while 5 per cent said that they and their families were living poorly, up 1 point. A further 32 per cent described their standard of living as average, up 3 points.
As for the financial circumstances of households, 64 per cent of respondents, 4 percentage points fewer than previously, described them as good, while 5 per cent, 2 points more than a month earlier, described them as poor. A further 32 per cent gave an average assessment in this respect, up 3 points from June.
An improvement in quality of life is expected by 19 per cent of respondents. A deterioration is anticipated by 16 per cent, 6 percentage points more than in June. Meanwhile, 56 per cent expect the status quo to continue, down 5 points.
Compared with June, the proportion of respondents expecting an improvement in their household’s financial circumstances fell from 20 to 19 per cent. A deterioration is feared by 12 per cent, down 1 percentage point, while 69 per cent, 2 points more than previously, expect no change in this area.
Most indicators deteriorate
“In July, virtually all of the social sentiment indicators analysed deteriorated. The largest changes were recorded in assessments of the political situation and in forecasts concerning respondents’ standard of living,”
CBOS concluded.
At the same time, the institute noted that for more than a year, more respondents have assessed the condition of the Polish economy positively than negatively. “Despite the declines recorded this month, assessments of respondents’ own financial situation and standard of living also remain relatively favourable,” it added.
The survey was conducted between 2 and 12 July 2026 on a sample of 938 adult residents of Poland randomly selected from the PESEL national identification register. Each respondent chose one of three survey methods: 65.5 per cent opted for a face-to-face interview with an interviewer using the CAPI method, 16.6 per cent chose a telephone interview after being contacted by a CBOS interviewer using the CATI method, and 17.9 per cent completed the online questionnaire independently using the CAWI method. In all three cases, the questionnaire contained the same set of questions and followed the same structure.