OBJECTIVES: To analyse the effects of liberalization of regulations, concerning establishment of pharmacies and pharmacy points in Poland after 1989.   METHODS: The data on the number of pharmacies and pharmacy points, used for the analysis were collected by mail survey completed by all regional pharmaceutical supervision authorities.  Population data were sourced from the statistical yearbook of Poland. RESULTS: During economic transition Poland was one of few European Union countries, where the number of pharmacies was not regulated within a given area. Therefore, their numbers  increased rapidly, reaching 12.153 private pharmacies and 1.397 private pharmacy points in 2009. This means that in 2009 one pharmacy served 3.127 people. Before privatization process started in 1989, all retail pharmacies were managed  by a state-owned enterprise “Cefarm”. Since then, the regulations have changed and the number of pharmacies started to grow. The main reasons of this trend was a regulation stipulating that permission to establish  a pharmacy can be granted to any private or legal person, disregarding professional education of that person.  Pharmacy owner was only required to employ a qualified pharmacist, responsible for managing the pharmacy.  Another major institutional change was introduced by the Pharmaceutical Law, voted October 10, 1991, which authorized establishment of pharmacy points.  In spite of the general trend, in some poor provinces of Poland the number of pharmacies decreased. June 1, 2010,  European Court of Justice ruled that the right to own and operate a pharmacy may be reserved exclusively for pharmacists and that demographic or geographic criteria may be used in the process of issuing permits to operate pharmacies. CONCLUSIONS: Currently, the Polish Ministry of Health has to propose amendments to the Pharmaceutical Law, implementing the above mentioned criteria.