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The aim of the work described here has been to answer a question as to whether migration movements can counteract the depopulation of Polish cities. Against the background of the worsening demographic situation faced by Poland (with population decline and an ageing society) – as mainly due to negative natural population growth and a negative net migration rate – an assessment is made of the possible effects of immigration on the said depopulation of Polish cities. The term immigration as used in this paper covers selected elements of the inflow of population into cities, i.e. that involving foreigners, returnees and non-stationary students settling in cities after completing their education. Analysis of the relevant data indicates that these migrant streams can only improve the demographic situation of Polish cities slightly, due to the limited scale of the movements involved. The scale of immigration into Poland is indeed rather limited. According to official statistics, 234,000 foreigners were resident in Poland as of 2016, with the majority of these people residing in cities. The actual scale of immigration is greater, with the real number of Ukrainian immigrants (the largest group) for example estimated at 1 million. However, it should be noted that the latter do not take up permanent residence in Poland, but rather come on a rotation basis several times a year. In the longer term, other EU countries (those that waived visas for Ukrainians in 2017) can represent competition for Poland as a country of destination for our eastern neighbours. The United Kingdom is another potential source of population inflow back to Polish cities. After Brexit, Polish nationals who work there (about 1 million in number) may emerge as non-eligible for permanent residence in the UK. The potential remigration in this context is of an estimated 200,000 people. Those Polish cities that are academic centres can count on the permanent settlement of a certain number of students who reside in them temporarily, but declare that they will take up permanent residence having completed their studies. This may also be the case for foreign students, especially Ukrainians. However, considering that some resident students are planning to emigrate from their home cities, the difference between these two groups, though positive, is small.
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