Objectives:
The direct objective was to verify whether shrinking cities differ significantly in terms of budget expenditures crucial for socio-economic security from cities not undergoing depopulation. The indirect objective was to interpret the observed differences in the light of their potential causes and consequences for residents.

Material and methods:
To achieve the research objective, we analyzed changes in the number of urban residents in Poland and used the Kruskal-Wallis test to determine the significance of differences between the level of budgetary expenditures crucial for socio-economic security in shrinking cities and cities with stable demographics.

Results:
The study confirmed the existence of depopulation in Polish cities and the intensification of the shrinking phenomenon. Significant differences were found in the level of budgetary expenditures between shrinking cities and those with stable populations. In shrinking cities, the level of expenditures on tasks crucial to socio-economic security (including education, municipal services, and environmental protection) was lower compared to cities with stable populations.

Conclusions:
The obtained results may indicate a limited expenditure capacity in shrinking cities, underscoring the need to prioritize mandatory expenditures. Such restrictions may, in the future, lead to a deterioration in the quality of public services and, consequently, a reduction in the attractiveness of cities for settlement, ultimately translating into lower socio-economic security for residents.