CHAPTER 1 - MARKET SUMMARY
Market Overview
The Poland Freight Forwarding Market is structurally linked to international merchandise flows, manufacturing procurement and intra-European distribution. Poland recorded USD 414.4 billion of exports and USD 422.7 billion of imports in 2025, creating USD 837.1 billion of two-way goods trade requiring booking, documentation, consolidation, customs and multimodal coordination. This scale makes forwarding strategically important to manufacturers, retailers and import-dependent supply chains.
Poland is a major European freight hub rather than only a domestic logistics market. Polish-registered road carriers performed 381.0 billion tonne-kilometres in 2025, the highest level in the EU and 20.2% of EU road freight performance. This dense transport ecosystem supports forwarding capacity around Warsaw, Upper Silesia, Poznan, Wroclaw and the Baltic ports, improving lane frequency and consolidation economics.
Market Value
USD 8,860 million
2025
Dominant Region
Mazowieckie
Dominant Segment
Sea & Inland Waterway Freight Forwarding
2025
Total Number of Players
2,823
Future Outlook
The Poland Freight Forwarding Market is projected to expand from USD 8,860 million in 2025 to USD 12,179 million by 2032, corresponding to a 4.65% forecast CAGR. Growth is expected to be more normalized than the 2020-2025 period, when pandemic disruption, freight-rate inflation and subsequent normalization produced a 6.39% historical CAGR. Structural support comes from Poland's position as the EU's largest road-freight operating base, sustained merchandise trade, growing Baltic container volumes, expanding logistics real estate and investment in TEN-T corridors. Higher-value customs, visibility and multimodal orchestration services should increase their contribution to forwarder net revenue.
The forecast assumes no return to the extreme international freight-rate conditions that inflated nominal forwarding revenue during 2021-2022. Instead, revenue expansion is based on moderate shipment growth, modest forwarding-fee inflation and increasing penetration of integrated services. Rail Baltica investment, Polish port expansion, eFTI implementation and continued nearshoring into Central Europe support cross-border forwarding, while road tolls, labor costs and carrier-margin pressure constrain upside. Under the base case, air forwarding and digital freight management grow faster than the overall market, while road forwarding remains the deepest operating network and maritime forwarding retains strong revenue density for international cargo.
4.65%
Forecast CAGR
$12,179 Mn
2030 Projection
Base Year
2025
Historical Period
2020-2025
Forecast Period
2025-2032
Historical CAGR
6.39%
CHAPTER 2 - SCOPE OF REPORT
Scope of the Market
CHAPTER 3 - Key Stakeholders
Key Target Audience
Key stakeholders who can leverage from this market analysis for investment, strategy, and operational planning.
Investors
CAGR, consolidation, margin resilience, digital scalability, capex exposure
Corporates
freight rates, lane capacity, customs, visibility, service reliability
Government
corridors, digital compliance, border efficiency, modal shift, resilience
Operators
utilization, procurement, lane density, yield, automation, service mix
Financial institutions
cash conversion, working capital, credit risk, consolidation financing
CHAPTER 4 - Market Size & Growth
Market Size, Growth Forecast and Trends
This section evaluates the historical market size, analyzes year-over-year growth dynamics, and presents forecast projections supported by market performance indicators and demand-side drivers.
Historical & Projected Market Size ($ Million)
Year-over-Year Growth Rate (%)
Market Value vs Volume Growth (%)
Historical Market Performance, 2020-2025
The historical period reflects both real freight activity and unusually volatile forwarding yields. Revenue accelerated in 2021 and 2022 as constrained international capacity, high carrier rates and supply-chain disruption lifted forwarding net revenue per shipment. Normalization drove an 8.89% modeled decline in 2023 before the market returned to positive growth. By 2025, the underlying environment was mixed: total goods carried by Polish transport operators fell to 523.1 million tonnes, but merchandise trade expanded materially and road freight performance remained the highest in the EU. The result was a 6.39% value CAGR across 2020-2025.
Forecast Market Outlook, 2025-2032
Forecast growth is expected to be steadier, with the market reaching USD 12,179 million by 2032 at a 4.65% CAGR. The forecast assumes moderate freight-volume recovery, increasing value-added service penetration and no repeat of the extreme rate cycle observed during the pandemic period. International road, ocean, air and intermodal activity remain the central demand pools. Digital documentation, visibility, customs automation and control-tower services add revenue intensity, while port expansion and TEN-T investment improve physical capacity. Competitive pressure and carrier procurement volatility prevent the forecast from assuming a structurally higher long-run growth rate.
CHAPTER 5 - Market Data
Market Breakdown
Market performance is increasingly determined by Poland's trade intensity, international road-freight leadership and ability to connect manufacturing clusters with Baltic ports and EU distribution corridors. For investors and operators, revenue growth depends on converting these physical flows into higher-value forwarding, customs and multimodal services.
Year | Market Size (USD Mn) | YoY Growth (%) | Merchandise Trade Value (USD Bn) | Road Freight Performance (Bn tonne-km) | Modern Warehouse Stock (Mn sqm) | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $6,500 Mn | +- | 508.8 | - | Forecast | |
| 2021 | $7,350 Mn | +13.08% | 653.3 | - | Forecast | |
| 2022 | $9,000 Mn | +22.45% | 752.7 | - | Forecast | |
| 2023 | $8,200 Mn | +-8.89% | 753.3 | - | Forecast | |
| 2024 | $8,490 Mn | +3.54% | 759.8 | 368.0 | Forecast | |
| 2025 | $8,860 Mn | +4.36% | 837.1 | 381.0 | Forecast | |
| 2026 | $9,272 Mn | +4.65% | - | - | Forecast | |
| 2027 | $9,703 Mn | +4.65% | - | - | Forecast | |
| 2028 | $10,154 Mn | +4.65% | - | - | Forecast | |
| 2029 | $10,627 Mn | +4.66% | - | - | Forecast | |
| 2030 | $11,121 Mn | +4.65% | - | - | Forecast | |
| 2031 | $11,638 Mn | +4.65% | - | - | Forecast | |
| 2032 | $12,179 Mn | +4.65% | - | - | Forecast |
Merchandise Trade Value
USD 837.1 billion, 2025, Poland. High two-way trade supports recurring international forwarding demand. Exports increased 8.2% and imports 10.5% in USD terms during 2025, strengthening shipment coordination, customs and multimodal requirements.
Road Freight Performance
381.0 billion tonne-km, 2025, Poland. Poland accounted for 32.1% of EU international road-freight tonne-kilometres, while international activity represented 60.0% of Polish road-freight performance, reinforcing the country's role as a cross-border forwarding hub.
Modern Warehouse Stock
36.6 million sqm, end-2025, Poland. Logistics real estate supports consolidation and distribution activity around major freight corridors. Gross warehouse demand approached 6 million sqm during 2025, indicating continued shipper requirements for integrated transport and distribution networks.
CHAPTER 6 - Segmentation
Market Segmentation Framework
Comprehensive analysis across key dimensions providing insights into market structure, shipper requirements, freight flows and forwarding delivery models.
No of Segments
7
Dominant Segment
Mode of Transport
Fastest Growing Segment
Service Type
Service Type
Mode of Transport
Shipment Flow
Customer Type
End-Use Industry
Business Model
Geography
Key Segmentation Takeaways
Mode of Transport
Modal specialization remains a primary commercial differentiator because carrier procurement, documentation, capacity risk and shipment economics differ materially between road, ocean, air and rail. Sea forwarding generates high revenue density on international containerized cargo, while Poland's exceptionally large road-freight base supports dense groupage and full-load networks. Integrated multimodal operators can shift cargo between modes when service, price or capacity conditions change.
Service Type
Digital Freight Management is expected to expand fastest within the service mix as shippers seek instant quotation, milestone visibility, exception management and electronic documentation. The 2027 full application of the EU eFTI framework supports standardized electronic freight information, while customs complexity outside the EU increases demand for documentation and compliance services. These activities can raise net revenue per shipment without proportionate expansion of physical assets.
CHAPTER 7 - Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis
Poland is the second-largest standardized freight-forwarding market in the selected Central European peer set, behind Germany, while its road-freight activity exceeds every EU member state. The comparison below uses a consistent freight-forwarding service-revenue scope and Ken Research estimates for market size and forecast CAGR, cross-checked against Eurostat freight activity and World Bank logistics performance indicators.
Focus Country Ranking
2nd
Focus Country Market Size
USD 8,860 Mn (2025)
Poland CAGR (2025-2032)
4.65%
Focus Country Ranking
2nd
Focus Country Market Size
USD 8,860 Mn (2025)
Poland CAGR (2025-2032)
4.65%
Regional Analysis (Current Year)
Regional Analysis Comparison
Market Position
Poland ranks second in the selected peer group by standardized forwarding-service revenue while generating 368 billion road tonne-kilometres in 2024, materially above Germany's 281 billion.
Growth Advantage
Poland's modeled 4.65% CAGR exceeds the peer estimates for Germany and Czechia, supported by its leading road-freight base and growing Baltic container gateway activity.
Competitive Strengths
Poland combines a 3.6 World Bank LPI score, Europe-leading road freight activity and significant EU corridor investment, including almost EUR 452 million awarded to four Polish transport projects in 2025.
CHAPTER 8 - INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Growth Drivers, Challenges & Opportunities
Comprehensive analysis of key factors shaping the Poland Freight Forwarding Market, including growth catalysts, operational challenges, and emerging opportunities across transport procurement, international trade and multimodal logistics.
Growth Drivers
Expansion of Poland's International Merchandise Trade
- Exports reached USD 414.4 billion (2025, Poland), creating outbound requirements for carrier procurement, export documentation, consolidation and customs handling on extra-EU lanes.
- Imports reached USD 422.7 billion (2025, Poland), supporting inbound ocean, air and road forwarding as manufacturers and retailers coordinate multi-origin supply chains.
- Germany-Poland represented the EU's second-largest country-to-country road flow at 68.4 million tonnes (2025, EU), giving forwarders substantial lane density and consolidation economies.
European Road Freight Leadership
- Poland represented 20.2% of EU road freight tonne-kilometres (2025, EU), creating high carrier availability and procurement depth for forwarding networks.
- Polish hauliers generated 32.1% of EU international road-freight tonne-kilometres (2025, EU), reinforcing Poland's role in cross-trade and intra-EU forwarding.
- International activity represented 60.0% of Polish road freight performance (2025, Poland), making cross-border route management a core revenue pool rather than a peripheral service.
Port and Corridor Infrastructure Expansion
- Port of Gdansk container activity increased by approximately 23% (2025, Poland), expanding FCL, LCL, customs and inland-haulage coordination opportunities.
- Poland received almost EUR 452 million of EU transport grants (2025, Poland) across four projects supporting Rail Baltica, cross-border connections, ERTMS and port capacity.
- Poland was the EU's second-largest rail-freight contributor at 54.3 billion tonne-km (2025, Poland), supporting road-rail forwarding solutions for industrial and long-distance cargo.
Market Challenges
Underlying Freight-Volume Weakness and Cyclicality
- Total freight tonnage contracted by 6.2% (2025, Poland), intensifying competition for shipper accounts and forcing forwarders to protect margin through value-added services.
- Road-carried tonnage declined by 13.3% (2025, Poland), creating rate pressure for operators exposed to commodity and industrial volume cycles.
- International rail cargo totaled 79.2 million tonnes (2024, Poland), down 1.9%, demonstrating that modal diversification does not fully eliminate macroeconomic volume risk.
Road Toll and Regulatory Cost Pressure
- Approximately 645 km of roads (2026, Poland) were added to the e-TOLL network from February 2026, raising cost exposure on additional freight corridors.
- Vehicles above 3.5 tonnes (2026, Poland) remain subject to mandatory electronic tolling, directly affecting the largest road-forwarding capacity pool.
- EU rules extended tachograph and working-time requirements to international light commercial vehicles of 2.5-3.5 tonnes from July 2026, reducing flexibility in selected express and groupage operations.
Fragmented Supplier Base and Margin Management
- Financial statements are available for approximately 2,292 entities (latest registry aggregation, Poland), illustrating a long tail of small and mid-sized service providers.
- Entities in the broad PKD 52.29 universe report approximately PLN 33.43 billion of revenue (latest filings, Poland), requiring careful scope adjustment when estimating pure freight-forwarding revenue.
- Raben reported road transport at nearly 67% of its 2025 European service portfolio, illustrating how forwarding economics remain closely tied to road carrier pricing and network utilization.
Market Opportunities
Electronic Freight Information and Workflow Automation
- Certified eFTI platforms can support regulatory information exchange across 27 EU member states, enabling scalable document services for cross-border forwarders.
- Forwarders benefit by combining digital booking, customs and visibility around a market with USD 837.1 billion of merchandise trade in 2025, increasing revenue per managed shipment.
- Operators must prepare certified integrations before 2027 to translate regulatory digitization into lower document handling cost and faster exception resolution.
Multimodal and Baltic Gateway Forwarding
- Baltic Hub handled approximately 2.77 million TEU (2025, Poland), creating scale for LCL consolidation, FCL management and port-adjacent customs services.
- Port of Gdynia exceeded 1 million TEU (2025, Poland), adding a second major container gateway for forwarders serving Polish and Central European shippers.
- Rail Baltica received EUR 294 million of EU support for its Polish section in 2025, improving the long-term case for rail-linked Baltic forwarding.
Integrated Forwarding Around Poland's Logistics Real Estate Base
- Gross warehouse demand approached 6 million sqm (2025, Poland), supporting forwarding opportunities tied to new distribution and manufacturing occupiers.
- Mazowieckie contained approximately 7.34 million sqm of warehouse stock (Q4 2025, Poland), reinforcing Warsaw as a high-density freight-management hub.
- Raben Logistics Polska operates roughly 750,000 sqm of warehouse capacity in Poland, demonstrating the scale achievable through integrated distribution and forwarding networks.
CHAPTER 9 - Competitive Landscape
Competitive Landscape Overview
Competition combines global forwarding networks, large Polish logistics groups and a fragmented long tail of specialist agencies. Scale advantages arise from carrier procurement, lane density, customs expertise, branch networks and digital shipment visibility.
Market Share Distribution
Top 5 Players
Market Dynamics
8 new entrants in the past 5 years, indicating strong market attractiveness and growth potential.
Company Name | Market Share | Headquarters | Founding Year | Core Market Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
DSV | - | Hedehusene, Denmark | 1976 | Road, air, sea freight forwarding and integrated logistics |
Raben Group | - | Robakowo, Poland | 1931 | Road groupage, FTL, intermodal and integrated logistics |
Rohlig SUUS Logistics | - | Warsaw, Poland | 1989 | Road, sea, air, rail and project forwarding |
Kuehne+Nagel | - | Schindellegi, Switzerland | 1890 | Air, sea, road, rail and integrated forwarding |
DHL Global Forwarding | - | Bonn, Germany | - | Air, ocean and multimodal freight forwarding |
GEODIS | - | Levallois-Perret, France | - | Freight forwarding, road transport and project logistics |
DACHSER | - | Kempten, Germany | 1930 | European road logistics and air-sea forwarding |
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics | - | Osnabruck, Germany | 1871 | Road, air, sea and contract logistics services |
CEVA Logistics | - | Marseille, France | 2007 | Ocean, air, project and multimodal freight management |
Yusen Logistics | - | Tokyo, Japan | - | Air, ocean, road and supply-chain forwarding |
Cross Comparison Parameters
The report provides detailed cross-comparison of key players across 10 performance parameters to identify competitive strengths and weaknesses.
International Forwarding Shipment Volume
Network Coverage and Lane Density
Poland Forwarding Revenue Growth
EBITDA Margin
Analysis Covered
Market Share Analysis:
Evaluates relative scale using in-scope Polish forwarding revenue estimates.
Cross Comparison Matrix:
Compares shipment scale, network density, growth and operating profitability.
SWOT Analysis:
Assesses network advantages, capability gaps, risks and expansion opportunities.
Pricing Strategy Analysis:
Benchmarks contract, spot, groupage and multimodal commercial approaches.
Company Profiles:
Reviews footprint, forwarding capabilities, customer focus and strategic positioning.
CHAPTER 10 - REPORT TOC
Table of Contents
Market Assessment Phase
Supply-side and competitive intelligence covering market sizing, segmentation, competitive dynamics, regulatory landscape, and future forecasts.
Go-To-Market Strategy Phase
15 chapters
Entry strategy evaluation, execution roadmap, partner recommendations, and profitability outlook.
Survey Phase
8 chapters
Demand-side primary research conducted through structured interviews and online surveys with end users across priority metros and Tier 2/3 cities to capture consumption behavior, unmet needs, and purchase drivers.
Complete Report Coverage
201+ detailed sections covering every aspect of the market
143
Assessment Sections
58
Strategy Sections
CHAPTER 11 - Our Approach
Research Methodology
Desk Research
- Analyze Polish freight activity statistics
- Review merchandise trade flow datasets
- Map freight-forwarder company universe
- Assess port and corridor throughput
Primary Research
- Interview freight forwarding managing directors
- Interview road network operations heads
- Interview shipper logistics procurement managers
- Interview customs and trade specialists
Validation and Triangulation
- 330 respondents across freight value chain
- Cross-check company and shipment benchmarks
- Validate mode-specific forwarding fee pools
- Reconcile trade and freight indicators
CHAPTER 12 - FAQ
FAQs
Still have questions?
Our research team is here to help you find the right solution
CHAPTER 13 - Related Research
Explore Related Reports
Expand your market intelligence with complementary research across regions and adjacent markets.
Regional/Country ReportsRelated market analysis across key regions
Related market analysis across key regions
No regional reports found.
Adjacent ReportsRelated markets and complementary research
Related markets and complementary research
No adjacent reports found.
500+
Market Research Reports
50+
Countries Covered
15+
Industry Verticals