Why are more European manufacturers and logistics players choosing Poland?

For occupiers from the logistics and industrial sector, Poland continues to stand out as one of the most resilient and structurally sound markets in Central and Eastern Europe. According to Market Insights 2026, Colliers’ annual report summarising 2025 and outlining forecasts for 2026, the Polish warehouse market has entered a phase of stabilisation. This new cycle is defined less by rapid expansion and more by predictable fundamentals – an environment particularly attractive for tenants planning long‑term operational strategies.

A market of scale and structural balance
At the end of 2025, Poland’s total modern industrial and logistics stock exceeded 36 million m², consolidating its position as the largest market in the CEE region and one that is increasingly comparable with selected Western European countries. Gross take‑up reached 6.7 million m², the third‑highest result in the market’s history. This performance clearly demonstrates that occupier demand remained resilient despite tighter financing conditions and a more cautious macroeconomic backdrop. Vacancy declined to 7.4%, supported by solid absorption and a temporarily lower volume of new completions earlier in the year.

For occupiers, this balance between supply and demand is particularly important. The market currently offers a combination of sufficient choice across most regions, limited speculative oversupply and stabilised headline rents. After several years of volatility, rental growth has largely flattened, allowing logistics and industrial tenants to forecast occupancy costs with significantly greater confidence.

Regional depth and logistics corridors
One of Poland’s structural advantages is the depth of its regional markets. While the ‘Big Five’ logistics hubs – Warsaw, Upper Silesia, Central Poland, Poznań and Wrocław – continue to dominate, emerging locations along key transport corridors are gaining importance. Regions such as Western Poland, Szczecin or the Tri‑City area are increasingly attractive for occupiers seeking proximity to German markets, ports or cross‑border distribution routes. This geographic diversification helps tenants optimise last‑mile delivery, reduce transport risk and better align facilities with supply‑chain strategies.

Demand structure: a mature occupier market
The structure of tenant demand highlights the maturity of the Polish logistics market. In 2025, renegotiations and lease extensions accounted for approximately 52% of total demand, confirming that many companies treat Poland as a core operational hub rather than a short‑term or transitional location. Logistics operators, retailers and e‑commerce players remain the largest tenant groups, while manufacturing – particularly from automotive, household appliances, electronics and advanced industrial sectors – continues to strengthen its presence.

Importantly, occupiers are becoming more sophisticated in their technical and operational requirements. Growing demand for higher power capacity, increased floor loading, expanded mezzanine levels and advanced fire safety solutions reflects the rapid pace of automation. Facilities increasingly need to support robotics, value‑added logistics and light production, favouring modern assets and sometimes encouraging tenants to secure space at the pre‑letting stage.

Macroeconomic environment supporting occupiers
The broader macroeconomic environment remains supportive. Poland’s GDP increased by 3.6% in 2025, and Colliers forecasts growth of around 3.7%-4.0% in 2026, driven primarily by investment activity, EU‑funded infrastructure projects and a gradual recovery in industrial output. Inflation eased to 2.4% at the end of 2025, while real wages grew by more than 6%, sustaining household consumption and supporting distribution‑driven sectors.

For logistics occupiers, these indicators translate into relatively stable volumes, improving supply‑chain visibility and reduced volatility in operating conditions. Easing monetary policy and lower interest rates are also gradually improving feasibility for expansion projects, consolidations and build‑to‑suit developments, particularly for companies with longer investment horizons.

Relocation, nearshoring and strategic reassessment
A key theme outlined in our report is the strategic reassessment of operational footprints by Western European companies, especially those based in Germany. Rising labour costs, elevated energy prices and regulatory pressure are prompting manufacturers and logistics operators to relocate or expand activity eastwards. In 2025, organisations such as Mercedes‑Benz, MAN, Kubota, Miele and TechniSat announced projects involving production or logistics facilities in Poland.

For British and international occupiers, Poland offers a clearly defined value proposition: competitive operating costs, access to a large and increasingly skilled workforce, improving road and rail infrastructure and proximity to both Western European markets and fast‑growing consumption hubs in CEE. These advantages support nearshoring strategies, supply‑chain diversification and risk mitigation in an increasingly uncertain global environment.

ESG and operational efficiency as standard
Among the occupiers we advise, but also as a broader market trend, environmental and ESG considerations are now an integral part of occupier decision‑making. Developers active in Poland routinely deliver warehouses certified under BREEAM or LEED schemes, equipped with energy‑efficient installations, LED lighting, intelligent building management systems and photovoltaic panels. From a tenant perspective, this is no longer a “nice to have” feature, but a practical means of reducing operational costs, meeting corporate sustainability targets and enhancing long‑term asset usability.

Outlook for 2026: implications for tenants
Looking ahead, 2026 will be characterised by continued stabilisation rather than rapid expansion. New supply is expected to remain moderate, while demand should stay robust, driven mainly by renegotiations, consolidations and carefully selected growth projects. Pre‑letting levels in buildings under construction already exceed 60%; therefore, we advise tenants planning larger or more specialised facilities to engage with the market at an early stage in order to secure optimal locations and required technical specifications.

As the Polish industrial and logistics market reaches full maturity, tenant success will depend less on short‑term cost arbitrage and more on strategic location, building quality, ESG performance and operational resilience. Poland remains not only a secure base for logistics operations, but an increasingly strategic platform for serving European markets in the years ahead.

Here is a link to the full report Market Insights 2026  https://bit.ly/3QJxW7e