The decline was the result of new legislation, including the digitisation of applications and tighter eligibility requirements, the ministry said last month.
It said the changes had curbed applications submitted "merely for appearance's sake," making the system more effective and reducing the number of rejected applications.
The ministry said the data were still undergoing final verification but that the trend was clear.
Poland also introduced its Entry/Exit System last year to monitor the entry and departure of foreigners, state news agency PAP reported.
The system registers non-EU and non-Schengen nationals when they cross the Polish border, including by collecting fingerprints and facial scans, the ministry said.
In the first half of 2026, Poland's Border Guard agency registered more than 7.5 million border crossings through the system and created more than 2 million individual records for foreigners, according to the ministry.
The system tracks the duration of a foreigner's authorised stay from the time of entry and alerts authorities when that period expires if the person has not left Poland, the ministry said.
Nearly 11,000 people were detained in the first half of 2026 in connection with illegal residence in Poland, an increase of nearly 70 percent from the same period in 2025.
The interior ministry said the figures showed that Poland's migration policy was effective and that its borders were secure.