The number of Polish citizens living abroad is continuing to rise, with the level now approaching 2007's record figure of 2.27 million.

London and UK still one of the major magnets for Poles: photo - PR

According to as of yet unpublished figures from Poland's Central Statistical Office (GUS), over 2 million Poles were living abroad at the close of 2012.

The data, seen by the Rzeczpospolita daily, marks an increase of about 70,000 since 2011 and 130,000 since 2010.

“If we consider this alongside the demographic trend - the larger number of deaths than births - then we should tell ourselves clearly that the time has come to stop hiding our heads in the sand and that we must take action,” says Professor Krystyna Iglicka from Warsaw's Lazarski University.

In 2012, Poland's lower house of parliament passed a law raising the age of retirement to 67 for both sexes, in a bid to combat the changing ratio between workers and pensioners, which is currently 3:1, but may be as high as 1: 1 in 2060.

Around 1.5 million Poles living abroad are below the age of 39 and 726,000 are between 25 and 34.

The most dramatic phase of the exodus was in the first three years after Poland joined the European Union in 2004. (nh/pg)