Systematic inventories of deadwood in Polish forests are carried out as part of two separate activities: the National Forest Inventory (NFI), and periodic inventories of forest stands for the purpose of forest management plans preparation. These activities differ in their objectives, methodology and scope. The NFI has been conducted continuously since 2005, covering the whole country; its third series was completed in 2019. Measurements of deadwood as part of forest management planning have been carried out since 2012; data for 53.3% of the forest districts have been analysed (229 out of 430), covering 3,989,575 ha of forest. Data from both inventories are collected in the Forest Data Bank. A comparison of the results of both inventories for the same areas has shown similarities, but also differences that affect their interpretation and use for other studies. The volume of deadwood in Polish forests is relatively low as compared to guidelines in the literature, but a positive trend has been observed in recent years.