5 million robots are now at work in factories worldwide, reports the IFR - The Robot Report

Adoption of robotics has continued to increase year over year. Source: International Federation of Robotics

The global operational stock of industrial robots increased 9% to a record 5 million units in 2025, according to the International Federation of Robotics, or IFR. That increase was due to an 11% jump in annual installations, reported the organization, as factories worldwide installed more than 600,000 new units last year.

“Industrial automation is progressing at high speed,” stated Jane Heffner, president of the IFR. “The new mark of 5 million robots operational in factories worldwide is more than double the number seven years ago. The strongest growth is taking place in Asia, followed by Americas. Europe is moving ahead more slowly.”

“It’s a good time be building robots,” said Jon Quick, CEO ofLaunchpad Build AI. “Capabilities are increasing exponentially, while costs are coming down. Everyone is awake and attuned to the possibilities, looking to do something.”

Asia remains the robotics leader

Chinahas further strengthened its position as the world leader in robot adoption, said the IFR. Annual installations grew by 20% year over year and now account for 59% of global deployments, it said. The Frankfurt, Germany-basedorganizationfound that 354,000industrialrobots were installed in 2025, exceeding the previous year’s total by almost 60,000 units.

Chinese manufacturers have sold more than foreign suppliers in their home country. Their installations rose by 15%, reaching 195,000 units – a domestic market share of 55% in 2025 compared with 57% in 2024.

“China’s dominance in robot installations – while undoubtedly impressive – won’t be enough alone to solve its export challenges or improve its domestic consumption levels,” observed Quick. “Seen from another perspective, in fact, this picture offers huge potential opportunities to manufacturers in other parts of the world.”

Japanis the second largest market for industrial robots in Asia, with 36,219 units installed in 2025 – a 19% decrease. Japan’s market moved down from second to third position in the global market, behind the U.S. “Demand for robots is expected to grow slightly, but a major recovery is unlikely in the short to medium term,” said the IFR.

The market in theRepublic of Koreainstalled 30,000 units in 2025 – down 1%. Annual installations had been trending sideways of around 31,000 units since 2019, noted the IFR.

The country remained the fourth largest market worldwide. New investments from theautomotiveindustry will come into effect in 2027 and 2028, the IFR predicted. Demand for robots in South Korea might break the established trend and grow in 2027, it said.

Indiainstalled almost 10,500 units in 2025 – up 15%, claiming sixth place worldwide, behind Germany. Although the volume of new installations is still relatively low compared with the top five established robot-adopting countries, annual installations in India grew by 27% on average per year (CAGR) from 2020 to 2025.

China accounts for 59% of global industrial robot deployments. Source: IFR

Americas experience industry growth

TheU.S.surpassed Japan in 2025 to become the second largest market for industrial robots, following China. Installations of these robots grew by 12% to almost 38,500 units, which the IFR said is the third-highest number it has recorded.

InMexico, robot installations declined by 7% to fewer than 5,200 units. This marks the third year of decline, noted the IFR.

InCanada, robot installations were up 5% to almost 4,000 units. The average annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025 was 9% CAGR.

TheBrazilianrobotics market installed almost 4,300 new robots in 2025, up 38%. This was driven by a surge in demand for robots from the automotive industry, which installed almost 2,100 units, a 212% increase. The IFR attributed the growth to investments by Chinese car manufacturers in Brazil.

The U.S. is now the second largest robot market in the world. Source: IFR

Europe has a modest increase in robot installations

Germanyis the fifth largest robot market in the world, and by far the largest inEurope, according to the IFR. In 2025, it had a 41% share of the total installations in the European Union.

Between 2020 and 2025, annual installations across industries grew by 2% on average per year (CAGR). However, sales fell 8% to fewer than 25,000 units in 2025. The automotive industry is the largest user of industrial robots in Germany, but its share is declining, the IFR said.

The number of installations inItaly, the second largest European market, fell by 11% to about 7,800 units.Franceis back in third place with almost 4,500 units despite an 8% decline, putting it ahead ofSpainwith about 4,300 units, down 15%.

Germany has a significant automation lead in the EU. Source: IFR

The IFR expects long-term growth

“Global robot demand is expected to continue its long-term growth trajectory. Installations are forecast to rise by 9% to 655,000 units in 2026 and reach 806,000 units in 2029,” said the IFR. “Despite substantial regional differences, with countries such as China, the U.S., and India as strong growth markets, the global outlook remains positive.”

The IFR noted that the need for more resilient supply chains, recent trade policies, and geoplitical conflicts are resulting in increasing relocation activity amongmanufacturers. Labor shortages andreshoringor nearshoring production will drive the demand for automation.

“While this may shift the regional pattern of robot demand, there is no indication that the long-term growth trend in industrial robotics is coming to an end from a global perspective,” said the IFR.

It also predicted that advances in AI, machine vision, and sensing will continue to improve robot capabilities, while easier programming and system integration will cut deployment costs and bring automation to new applications and customers.

“We have a problem where there are hundreds of thousands of open manufacturing and assembly jobs,” Quick toldThe Robot Report. “It’s supposed to be 2 million by 2030. We just don’t have enough people willing to do these jobs.”

“Secondly, some jobs can cause physical harm, and the lack of workers is causing an economic drain,” he added. “Let’s have robots do the work that no one wants to do and the stuff that’s dangerous. We’re not looking to do everything a human does.”

Editor’s note:Reshoring production with automation will be the topic of a panel discussion atRoboBusiness2026, which will be on Oct. 20 and 21 in Santa Clara, Calif.Register now to attend.