DHL has invested €180 million in its International Logistics Center in Robakowo near Poznań, opened in 2024, the latest milestone of a 35-year Polish build-out that now employs almost 10,000 staff across all five of the integrator's business divisions.

The Robakowo facility — which DHL ranks among Europe's largest and most advanced logistics hubs — sorts 45,000 parcels per hour and can process up to one million parcels a day during peak periods. It sits on the European transport corridor linking western Germany to the Baltic.

What does 35 years of DHL in Poland look like in numbers?

DHL entered Poland in 1991, the same year the country began opening to foreign capital. Operations expanded from a single express division to all five units: DHL Express, DHL eCommerce, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Supply Chain and DHL Freight. Poland now ranks among DHL Group's top ten markets for employment.

Key DHL Express Poland footprint data:

• Roughly 1,000 professionals employed
• 16 service centres operated
• 3,149 service points
• 4 dedicated aircraft on the Polish network

The country has become DHL Group's largest market in Central and Eastern Europe.

Why is Poland central to DHL's nearshoring thesis?

Polish GDP reached €923 billion in 2025, making the country the EU's sixth-largest economy and the biggest in CEE. GDP per capita has roughly doubled since 2005. Poland's Ministry of Economic Development and Technology logged 7% year-on-year air freight growth in 2025, a sector it classifies as a service export driver.

Tomasz Burás, Country Managing Director Poland at DHL Express, framed the pull factor directly: "Poland is a preferred destination for off-shoring and near-shoring. Some companies are growing so quickly that they are looking to Poland to complete these aims."

Burás cited Lublin, Poland's ninth-largest city, where a medical device manufacturer has anchored close to the surrounding concentration of biomedical and bioscience graduates — the kind of labour arbitrage pulling logistics capacity inland from the traditional Warsaw-Kraków axis.

What is DHL building next?

DHL Express announced plans this year for a major new cargo facility at Katowice Airport, aimed at strengthening export links from Upper Silesia, one of Poland's most industrialised regions. The project reinforces Poland's pitch as a European manufacturing and trade hub for shippers shortening European supply lines.

Burás tied the investment to a broader digitalisation push: "With integrated supply chains [like DHL's], we can optimise the flow. With data we can make sure all paperwork is completed on the data-driven supply chain before the shipment take-off and begin processing this in transit to minimise times and delays for customers."

What does this mean for shippers and forwarders?

For export-oriented manufacturers in Upper Silesia, the Katowice facility adds a dedicated air gateway within reach of automotive, machinery and electronics clusters that today route cargo through Warsaw or Frankfurt. For forwarders, DHL's expanding five-division footprint tightens competition in Polish contract logistics and road freight, where DHL Freight meets European heavy-haul incumbents head-on.

The Polish air freight market's 7% 2025 growth rate sits well above the EU average and tracks the broader nearshoring wave pulling production closer to end markets in Germany, France and the Benelux.

What is the trajectory from here?

Continued investment, network expansion and digitalisation point to no slowdown in DHL's Polish growth. With GDP still expanding and air freight volumes climbing, the integrator's Katowice build and Robakowo throughput signal a multi-year capacity build-out geared to shippers reshuffling European manufacturing footprints.