The industrial robotics market continues to be dynamic with annual installations on track to exceed 500,000 for a fourth consecutive year. If that figure is achieved, the operational installed base of industrial robots would grow approximately 10% to 4.8 million, according to recent estimates by the International Federation of Robotics. The automotive industry and electronics sector are the largest customers, with both installing about 130,000 units in the last three years. Collaborative robots (or cobots) represent approximately 10% of total installations. Regionally, Asia leads with 72% of installations followed by Europe and the Americas. China continues to dominate, installing every other robot worldwide. Installations are expected to increase in the next few years driven by a rebound from the electronics industry, labor scarcities and technological developments such as the integration of machine learning into robots, increasing adoption of cobots and innovation in small mobile robots.
Source: International Federation of Robotics, September 2024.