Retail accounts for 80% of franchise systems in Poland

Around 1,080 of the 1,350 franchise systems operating in Poland in 2024 were in retail. That represents 80% of all systems, according to figures cited by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in response to a parliamentary question. The information, published in October, shows a franchise sector heavily concentrated in retail, but it is important to distinguish between the number of business owners, shops and agreements.

87,000 franchisees and 1,350 systems

According to figures from the Polish Franchise Organisation, cited by the ministry and reported by dlahandlu.pl on 14 October 2026, around 87,000 franchisees were operating in Poland in 2024. They operated under approximately 1,350 franchise systems, the vast majority of which were in retail.

These figures describe two different aspects of the franchise sector. The number of systems indicates the range of business models and concepts available, while the number of franchisees shows how many entrepreneurs participate. The two should not be used interchangeably, nor should the number of franchisees be equated with the number of outlets.

The ministry also noted that it does not collect data specifically on franchising. The figures cited are therefore not the result of a separate ministry census. This is an important qualification for anyone seeking to use them to compare networks or assess opportunities to start a business.

The reference year also matters. Although the information was published in October 2026, it describes the situation in 2024. It is therefore neither an up-to-date breakdown of the size of every network nor a current count of entrepreneurs operating under franchise licences.

Three groups accounted for more than 40,000 shops

Eurocash, Specjał and Żabka played the largest role in this picture of the retail market. At the end of 2024, these groups together accounted for more than 40,000 shops. According to the information cited by the ministry, they represented nearly half of all franchise agreements.

The trade news website Wiadomości Spożywcze provided detailed figures for each group. Eurocash had more than 15,800 shops operating under various franchise models, including the Lewiatan, Gama, Delikatesy Centrum and Groszek brands. The Specjał Group comprised nearly 13,900 shops, also operating under different partnership models. The brands listed included SPAR, Livio and Nasz Sklep. Żabka had around 11,000 shops at the time.

The comparison shows that a large number of outlets are concentrated around a handful of organisations. It does not, however, mean that each organisation offered entrepreneurs the same way of running a shop. For Eurocash and Specjał, the figures cover multiple brands and different franchise models. Żabka was described as a single-brand network operating a so-called hard franchise model, with tighter operational controls.

For a prospective franchisee, the size of a group is therefore only a starting point. Comparing shop numbers is no substitute for comparing specific offers and contractual obligations. It is particularly important to establish whether the figures refer to an individual brand or an entire group encompassing several retail concepts.

PLN 550 billion in revenue — not franchisees’ profits

Revenue provides another measure of scale. According to estimates by the Institute of Public Finance, based on data from Statistics Poland (GUS) and cited in the ministry’s response, franchise networks generated around PLN 550 billion in revenue in 2024.

This is an estimate for the networks, not a statement of an individual franchisee’s earnings. Nor does it show how much of the sales revenue a business owner retains after covering an outlet’s operating costs. The figure should therefore not be used to imply any guaranteed level of earnings or treated as a measure of the profitability of a particular franchise opportunity.

Revenue figures add to the picture of the sector’s scale, but they answer a different question from the number of systems or shops. Taken together, these indicators show the franchise sector’s importance to the economy. On their own, however, they cannot establish which partnership model will suit a particular entrepreneur.

How to use these figures before choosing a network

The main conclusion from these figures concerns the structure of Poland’s franchise sector: retail accounts for most systems, while a few large groups bring together a substantial number of shops and agreements. An organisation’s size alone, however, says nothing about the quality of the terms it offers its partners.

Before comparing opportunities, check the year to which the figures relate, the scope of the data and the unit being measured. Shops, systems, franchisees and agreements are not the same thing. It is equally important to distinguish an entire network’s revenue from an individual outlet’s financial performance.

Practical takeaway: figures on scale can help you draw up a shortlist of networks to investigate. However, a decision to become a franchisee should be based on the terms of the specific agreement and a cost assessment for your own shop, rather than solely on the number of outlets trading under a particular brand.