Unemployment in the eastern Polish border region is the highest in Poland and among the highest in Europe.

Omissions

• The speaker's own region, Lubelskie (Lublin), is NOT the highest in Poland: at 8.1% it ranks only 4th, behind Podkarpackie (9.3%), Warmińsko-Mazurskie (9.3%) and Świętokrzyskie (8.4%) — the 'highest in the country' figure applies to the neighbouring eastern border voivodeship Podkarpackie.
• The 'among the highest in Europe' part is not supported and is contradicted by context: Eurostat put Poland's harmonised unemployment at 2.9% in March 2024 (jointly the lowest in the EU), and the EU average was 5.9% in 2024; Polish regions' unemployment (even the worst, around 4–5% in LFS harmonised terms) is below the EU average, far from the 15–25% recorded in the EU's highest-unemployment regions.
• The ranking figures are based on Polish registered unemployment (GUS/bezrobocie rejestrowane), which is not directly comparable with Eurostat LFS harmonised rates used for cross-country comparisons.
• Ranking sources are journalistic/secondary (interia.pl, Gazeta Olsztyńska, poland.gg) covering 2025–2026 data; the May 2026 national rate (5.9%) was published shortly before the session date.

Sources

• Primarygov.pl (Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy) – Eurostat: Poland with the lowest unemployment rate in the EUAccording to Eurostat, the unemployment rate in Poland in March 2024 was 2.9%, placing Poland — together with the Czech Republic — on the first place among EU countries with the lowest unemployment.
• PrimaryEurostat – Labour market statistics at regional level (Statistics Explained)In 2024 there were 13.0 million unemployed people (aged 15–74 years) in the EU, while the unemployment rate stood at 5.9%. The map shows large variations between regions.
• Secondarypoland.gg – Bezrobocie w województwie podkarpackimVoivodeship ranking (registered unemployment): 1. Podkarpackie 9.3%; 1. Warmińsko-Mazurskie 9.3%; 3. Świętokrzyskie 8.4%; 4. Lubelskie 8.1%; 5. Kujawsko-Pomorskie (lower).
• SecondaryInteria Biznes – GUS data on highest unemployment in PolandNajwyższą stopę bezrobocia odnotowano w województwie podkarpackim. Wyniosła ona 8,5 proc. Na drugim miejscu uplasowało się województwo warmińsko-mazurskie. (Podkarpackie recorded the highest unemployment rate, 8.5%; second was Warmińsko-Mazurskie — GUS data).
• SecondaryGazeta Olsztyńska – ranking of voivodeships with highest unemployment (July 2025)Ranking województw z najwyższą stopą bezrobocia (lipiec 2025 r.): Podkarpackie – 8,7 proc.; Warmińsko-Mazurskie – 8,… (July 2025 ranking: Podkarpackie 8.7%, highest; Warmińsko-Mazurskie second).
• SecondaryCEO.com.pl – Bezrobocie w maju 2026: stopa 5,9 proc. (GUS)Stopa bezrobocia (koniec maja 2026) 5,9% — national registered unemployment rate in Poland was 5.9% at end of May 2026 (GUS), up 0.8 pp year-on-year.