Global Industrial Robot Fleet Reaches 5 Million Units Driven by China’s Growth
- Published
- Source
- AIInsider
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reported that the global industrial robot fleet hit a record 5 million units in 2025, with over 600,000 new installations that year. China led the growth, contributing 354,000 installations, which accounted for 59% of the global total. The U.S. surpassed Japan to become the second-largest market, with nearly 38,500 installations.
This milestone signifies a significant acceleration in industrial automation, with the IFR projecting a 9% increase in annual installations to 655,000 units in 2026. The growth is driven by manufacturing investments, labor shortages, and advancements in technologies such as AI and machine vision. Asia exhibited the strongest growth, while Europe experienced slower expansion, highlighting regional disparities in automation adoption.
Looking ahead, the IFR anticipates that global installations will reach 806,000 by 2029. Factors such as increased manufacturing capacity, labor challenges, and enhanced supply chain resilience are expected to fuel this growth. The ongoing advancements in robotics technology will continue to expand the capabilities and applications of industrial robots in various sectors.
Original report
IFR Reports Global Industrial Robot Fleet Reaches 5M as China Drives Growth
AIInsider · Greg BockThis briefing is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting and is provided for industry information and news discovery. The original report and source publication are credited and linked where applicable. RobotToday does not claim ownership of third-party source material.
Rights concerns? Contact [email protected] with the relevant URL and details. We will review the matter and take appropriate action where warranted.
More related news
-
1
RobotToday Weekly November 9–13, 2026 RobotToday · 1 day ago
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
Related Suppliers
International Federation of Robotics
Germany
Global non-profit robotics trade body founded 1987, publishing the World Robotics annual report and representing industrial and service robot associations.
OMRON Automation Americas
United States
Americas division of Omron Corporation delivering industrial robots, cobots, AMRs, and machine vision from Hoffman Estates, IL.
KUKA Aktiengesellschaft
Germany
Global industrial robot leader founded 1898 in Augsburg; EUR 3.9B revenue, ~14,500 employees; KR AGILUS, FORTEC, QUANTEC series plus AMR and iiQKA ecosystem.
RoboJob NV
Belgium
Belgian CNC automation leader founded in 2007, with 2,000+ robot installations worldwide for lathe and milling machine tending across 100+ CNC brands.
EGS Automation GmbH
Germany
German robot system integrator founded in 1996, specializing in palletizing, bin picking, and custom industrial robot cells with 2,400+ installations.
Ascension Automation Solutions Ltd
Canada
Cambridge, ON robotics integrator; 70+ patents, ~$60M revenue; AI-integrated industrial robots, welding cells, machine vision, and AGVs.
Beckhoff Automation GmbH
Germany
German family-owned maker of PC-based control, EtherCAT and TwinCAT, and of ATRO, a modular robot customers assemble from motor and link modules.
SWIRA
Sweden
Sweden's national robotics industry association representing manufacturers, integrators, and users since 1980.
Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence 北京通用人工智能研究院
China
Beijing non-profit AGI institute led by Zhu Songchun whose embodied-AI stack includes the TongBrain robot brain and the open-source TongSIM simulator.
Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory 上海人工智能实验室
China
Shanghai-based national AI research institute founded 2020; develops the InternLM model family and the Intern-Robotics embodied-AI engine.
Machine Vision Lighting Inc.
Japan
Tokyo firm whose patented VISA-Method lighting delivers uniform illumination and one-step 3-D imaging for machine-vision inspection.
TrueLight Machine Vision Integration
Canada
BOS Innovations spinoff (2024, Dorchester ON); 2D/3D machine vision inspection and AI defect detection for auto and pharma.
Robotics needs a service framework.
RSF defines a common language for robot service capability, lifecycle operations, certification pathways, and service-provider networks.
Join the RobotToday community on LinkedIn
Daily robotics news, in-depth analysis, conference highlights, and discussions with professionals worldwide.
