The Silesian Voivodeship is inhabited by nearly 4.6 million people, which is nearly 12% of the country population. In 2015, the proportion of people of working age was 62.5%, i.e. close to over 2.8 million. The Upper Silesian urban area has the highest population density. 9 million people live in a 100 km radius of Katowice.

The Silesian Voivodeship is inhabited by nearly 4.6 million people, which is nearly 12% of Poland’s total population. The highest population density is in the Upper Silesian Agglomeration. In a broader perspective, 9 mln people live within 100 km of Katowice – the region’s capital – of which almost 4.6 mln are in Silesia. This results from the fact that such cities as Częstochowa, Opole, Ostrava, Bielsko-Biała and Kraków are located exactly within 100 km of Katowice. Over 77% of Silesians live in cities or towns.

In 2015, 62.5%, or over 2.8 mln people, out of the total number of the Voivodeship’s residents, amounting to almost 4.6 mln, were of working age. The majority of the employed (almost 29.6%) consisted of people aged 35-44, followed by people aged 25-34 (almost 26.8%), and people aged 45-54 (21.8%).

Restructuring processes in the region have been accompanied by the change within the employment structure, reflected by a decrease in the number of people employed in construction, mining and quarrying, as well as manufacture of basic metals, with a corresponding increase in the service sector.

As at the end of December 2015, the rate of unemployment in the region was 8.2%. 39% of the total number of registered unemployed persons was young people under the age of 34.

As at the end of November 2016, the rate was 6.6 % and at the end of February 2017 – 6.8 % and the total number of registered unemployed persons was 125 043.