Central Bank of Poland reports January current account surplus of PLN 4.9 billion as imports fall faster than exports

The Central Bank of Poland released preliminary balance of payments data showing a PLN 4.9 billion current account surplus in January 2026, compared with a PLN 0.2 billion deficit a year earlier. The improvement reflected a surplus of PLN 1.6 billion in trade in goods and PLN 13.8 billion in services, which more than offset deficits of PLN 10.2 billion in primary income and PLN 0.3 billion in secondary income. Goods exports fell 2.7% year on year to PLN 116.7 billion, while imports dropped 6.9% to PLN 115.1 billion. The central bank linked weaker exports largely to fewer working days than in January 2025, with declines across major export categories, especially capital goods, intermediate goods and transport equipment, while lower agricultural export values reflected falling international prices. The sharper fall in imports was driven by lower crude oil prices, calendar effects and base effects, with the largest declines outside fuels in intermediate and capital goods, although imports of passenger cars, computer parts and iron and steel structures increased. Services exports rose 5.3% year on year to PLN 40.5 billion and services imports increased 8.9% to PLN 26.7 billion. The primary income deficit widened by PLN 1.9 billion from a year earlier, mainly because income earned by foreign direct investors in Polish entities reached PLN 12.6 billion, alongside payments on portfolio investments of PLN 1.9 billion and other investments of PLN 2.1 billion.