IFR says 5 million industrial robots now work in factories worldwide
The federation put new installations above 600,000 for the year, with China taking 59% of them and Japan's own count down 19%.
The International Federation of Robotics said 5 million industrial robots are now operating in factories worldwide. The federation describes the figure as more than double the number of seven years ago, and set it out in an annual count that The Robot Report carried on Thursday.
Annual installations passed 600,000 units, up 11% on the previous year, and the operational stock grew 9%, according to the federation's figures. The federation expects installations to reach 655,000 in 2026 and 806,000 by 2029, forecasts that rest on its own survey.
China installed 354,000 of the new robots, 59% of global deployments and 20% more than the year before. The United States installed 38,500, up 12%, which the federation puts in second place. Japan fell to third on 36,219, down 19% on the year.
Germany installed about 25,000, down 8% and still the largest market in the European Union. South Korea installed 30,000, down 1%. India installed 10,500, up 15%. Brazil installed 4,300, a rise of 38% that the federation attributes to automotive work.
"Industrial automation is progressing at high speed," the federation said. It reports installations and operational stock separately, so the 5 million figure counts robots still in service rather than robots sold in the year. The underlying survey data is not public.