5 million robots are now at work in factories worldwide, reports the IFR

The global operational stock of industrial robots rose 9% to a record 5 million units in 2025, according to the International Federation of Robotics, driven by an 11% jump in annual installations to more than 600,000 new units. China accounted for 59% of global deployments with 354,000 installations, up 20% year over year, while the U.S. surpassed Japan as the second-largest market with installations up 12% to almost 38,500 units. IFR president Jane Heffner said the 5 million mark is "more than double the number seven years ago," with the strongest growth in Asia, followed by the Americas, and Europe "moving ahead more slowly.

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 of Launchpad Build AI https://www.therobotreport.com/launchpad-build-ai-offers-manufacturing-language-model-industrial-automation/ . “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 China https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/china has 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-based organization https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/international-federation-of-robotics found that 354,000 industrial https://www.therobotreport.com/category/robots-platforms/industrial-robots/ robots 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.” Japan https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/japan is 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 the Republic of Korea https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/south-korea/ installed 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 the automotive https://www.therobotreport.com/category/markets-industries/manufacturing/automotive/ industry 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. India https://www.therobotreport.com/?s=india installed 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. Americas experience industry growth The U.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. In Mexico , robot installations declined by 7% to fewer than 5,200 units. This marks the third year of decline, noted the IFR. In Canada https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/canada/ , robot installations were up 5% to almost 4,000 units. The average annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025 was 9% CAGR. The Brazilian robotics 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. Europe has a modest increase in robot installations Germany https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/germany is the fifth largest robot market in the world, and by far the largest in Europe https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/europe , 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 in Italy , the second largest European market, fell by 11% to about 7,800 units. France is back in third place with almost 4,500 units despite an 8% decline, putting it ahead of Spain with about 4,300 units, down 15%. 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 among manufacturers https://www.therobotreport.com/category/markets-industries/manufacturing/ . Labor shortages and reshoring https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/reshoring/ or 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 told The Robot Report https://www.therobotreport.com/ . “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 at RoboBusiness https://www.robobusiness.com/ 2026, which will be on Oct. 20 and 21 in Santa Clara, Calif. 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