The study, compiled by professional services company Deloitte for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, estimates that health insurance contributions from Ukrainian citizens reached about PLN 4.4 billion (EUR 1 billion, USD 1.1 billion).
Meanwhile, the National Health Fund (NFZ), which finances Poland's public health system, spent just over PLN 2.5 billion on their treatment, according to the report.
The figures cover all Ukrainian citizens in Poland, rather than refugees alone.
A similar gap was recorded in 2024, when Ukrainians paid about PLN 3.8 billion in health insurance contributions while their treatment cost about PLN 2.2 billion, the study found.
Piotr Karniej, a professor at WSB Merito University in the southwestern city of Wrocław and a healthcare expert, told state news agency PAP that the figures contradicted claims that Ukrainians were exploiting Poland's health system.
"The revenue associated with Ukrainians working in Poland clearly exceeds expenditure on their treatment," Karniej said. "You could say that through their work, these people financed their own healthcare."
The report put average NFZ spending on a Ukrainian refugee at PLN 694 in 2025, compared with PLN 4,640 for a Polish citizen.
Karniej said the difference could partly be explained by the age and health of the Ukrainian community in Poland. Although many elderly people arrived after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, those now living in Poland are predominantly young or middle-aged, he said.
Chronic illnesses, cancer and cardiovascular disease are less common among them than in the Polish population.
He also cited language barriers, unfamiliarity with the Polish health system and different habits in seeking medical care. Ukrainians were less likely to visit a doctor for minor illnesses such as colds or short-term infections, Karniej said.
The health figures form part of the third Deloitte-UNHCR study of the economic impact of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, presented on Thursday at the PAP Press Center.
The report estimates that refugees from Ukraine accounted for 2.4 percent of Poland’s gross domestic product in 2025, equivalent to about PLN 94 billion.
Their employment rate reached 76 percent in 2025, up from 61 percent in 2023 and 69 percent in 2024. That compared with an employment rate of about 75 percent among Polish citizens.
Ukrainian medical staff have also entered Poland's health system. In 2025, Ukrainians accounted for 2.4 percent of doctors working in Poland and 0.8 percent of nurses.
Karniej said Poland should help Ukrainian doctors and nurses meet language and professional requirements where necessary rather than exclude them from the labor market, particularly as the country continues to need qualified medical staff.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, unhcr.org