Logistics services in Poland.

Poland logistics overview: modes, trade and gateways

Sea, air, rail, and road options are all available for moving freight in and out of Poland. Containerized cargo moves through seaports such as Gdansk and Gdynia, with Poland handling about 3.3 million TEU in 2024 and an LSCI of about 52 in 2021. Shippers can also use about 344 million tonne-km of air freight capacity and a rail network of about 19,500 km.

Road and rail links connect Poland to Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast). Export and import border procedures recorded median border compliance times of 1 day in 2018. Common export goods include vehicle parts, electric batteries, plastic products, cars, and seats, while crude petroleum, cars, garments, and plastic products are among frequent imports.

When choosing freight forwarders in Poland, shippers should align services with the country’s main maritime gateways at Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, as well as scheduled airports such as Kraków, Gdańsk, Katowice, Wrocław, and Lublin. Container throughput of about 3.3 million TEU and an LSCI rank of 28 of 169 show good liner access that a forwarder should be able to use.

Poland’s Logistics Performance Index score of 3.6 is above the world median of 2.7, but the international shipments score of 3.3 is lower than its tracking and timeliness scores. This makes performance monitoring and shipment visibility important selection criteria. As an EU and OECD member with WTO participation, Poland trades heavily with Germany, the UK, Czechia, France, Italy, China, and the Netherlands, so forwarders should demonstrate experience on these lanes and familiarity with EU customs procedures.

FCL and LCL shipping from and to Poland moves mainly through seaports at Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Police and Swinoujscie. Gdansk and Gdynia are large ports with cargo pier depths around 6 m, and Poland has about 10 ports in total and 5 oil terminals along a 440 km coast. Container throughput is about 3.3 million TEU, with a liner shipping connectivity index of 51.84.

Global shipping lines with offices in Poland include Maersk, CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, COSCO, HMM, ONE, OOCL and X-Press Feeders, mainly in Gdynia, Gdansk and Warsaw. Observed FCL rates for a 40HC container include Nansha Pt to Gdansk at a median of 3815 USD on 2026-10-30 and Ningbo to Gdansk at 3706 USD on 2026-10-31. LCL from Nansha Pt to Gdansk for 500 kg / 1 m³ shows a median of 179 USD on 2026-10-30.

Poland supports air freight through 15 airports with scheduled service, with major gateways including Copernicus Wrocław Airport (WRO), Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN), Katowice Wojciech Korfanty International Airport (KTW), Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK), and Lublin Airport (LUZ). In 2023, air cargo traffic reached about 344 million tonne-km, ranking 43 of 184 globally.

Air freight in Poland is well suited to higher-value goods such as electric batteries, vehicle parts, plastic products, garments, and components moving to or from core partners like Germany, the UK, China, France, and Italy. Short air routes from Warsaw to regional hubs such as Budapest, Vienna, and Leipzig, ranging from about 568 to 636 km, support fast delivery within Central Europe.

Poland has a rail network of about 19,500 km and moved about 54.4 billion tonne-km of rail freight in 2021, ranking 12 of 113 worldwide and 5 of 47 in its region. Key rail corridors link ports such as Gdansk and Gdynia to inland hubs and cross-border routes. Sample international rail distances include Gdansk to Berlin at 474 km and Lodz to Prague at 510 km.

Extensive land borders support road freight with Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast). Road distances include Poznan to Berlin at 269 km, Warsaw to Lviv at 396 km, and Poznan to Prague at 458 km. These corridors complement port access at Gdansk and Gdynia for through movements of cars, vehicle parts, plastic products, and crude petroleum.

The Tax and Customs Service of Poland oversees customs procedures. Poland is a member of the World Customs Organization since 1974-07-17 and participates in the WTO. As a member of the EU and OECD, it applies an average applied tariff of about 1.33 percent in 2022. The LPI customs score is 3.4, above the world median of 2.6.

Export and import border compliance times were recorded at 1 day for both in 2018. For customs clearance, shippers should prepare a commercial invoice, packing list, and appropriate transport document, whether shipping by sea, air, rail, or road. The relatively high LPI tracking (3.8) and timeliness (3.9) scores compared with the world median support more predictable clearance and delivery windows.