Nearly four in ten respondents (39%) estimated that the number of wealthy people in Poland does not exceed 10%. It is worth noting that in our previous survey, this opinion was held by as many as 50% of respondents. Currently, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of those expressing the view that the percentage of wealthy people is between 11 and 49 out of every 100 residents of Poland (26% of such declarations compared to 17% in 2019). As before, one-quarter of respondents had difficulty accurately determining the percentage of wealthy individuals in our society.

In your opinion, how many wealthy people are there per 100 residents of Poland?

Poles still quite optimistically predict the spread of wealth in our country; however, the number believing that the percentage of wealthy individuals will increase in the coming years has decreased by 10 percentage points compared to the last measurement, from 46% to 36%. The proportion of those expecting that there will be more wealthy people in the coming years significantly exceeds the proportion of those who believe there will be fewer (36% vs. 14%).

Do you think that in the next few years, there will be:

More than six in ten respondents declared that they know at least one wealthy person/family or consider themselves among them (62%). In the previous survey on this phenomenon conducted in 2019, the percentage of such indications was 12 percentage points lower (50%).

Do you personally know a really wealthy person/family?

Do wealth and prosperity correlate with respect and esteem from others? In this regard, respondents are divided, with a slight plurality holding positive opinions (44%, an increase of 5 points since 2019) over negative ones (40%, a decrease of 7 points).

Do you agree that wealthy people enjoy respect and esteem from others, or not?

We also asked respondents to indicate up to three factors from the proposed categories that they believe determine why some people become very wealthy in a relatively short time. Nearly six in ten respondents indicated hard work (58%), which is the highest result in the history of our measurements. As in the last survey from 2019, the next factors identified were courage and willingness to take risks (47%) and talents and abilities (37%).

In your opinion, what primarily determines why some people become very wealthy in a relatively short time?

At the same time, over three-quarters of respondents believe that in Poland, people do not have equal opportunities, and only a few can become wealthy (77%), which is the same percentage as in 2019. Conversely, 17% of respondents believe that everyone in our country has equal opportunities for wealth (a decrease of 1 point). Six percent of respondents have no specific opinion on this matter.

Since the beginning of our measurements, the percentage of people stating that in Poland, people do not have equal opportunities to become wealthy has constituted a significant majority. It reached its highest value in 2004, when more than nine out of ten respondents (93%) expressed such an opinion. In the last two surveys, the percentage of people indicating that in Poland, people do not have equal opportunities for wealth has fallen below 80%. Since 2019, we have also observed a significantly higher percentage of people believing that in our country, everyone has equal opportunities for wealth (17%–18%). Nevertheless, the opinion that people do not have equal opportunities for wealth dominates across all surveyed groups.

Which view is closer to your own opinion?