Industrial robots in factories pass five million worldwide

Industrial robots in factories pass five million worldwide

24 September 2026: The International Federation of Robotics counts 5 million industrial robots operating in factories at the end of 2025, a record and 9 percent more than a year earlier. Annual installations rose 11 percent to more than 600,000 units, according to the World Robotics 2026 report presented in Frankfurt.

"Industrial automation is progressing at high speed," said Jane Heffner, President of the International Federation of Robotics. She added that the five million mark is more than double the number seven years ago, with the strongest growth in Asia, then the Americas, and Europe moving more slowly.

China takes 59 percent of new installations

China installed 354,000 robots in 2025, up 20 percent and almost 60,000 above the previous annual record. That is 59 percent of all deployments worldwide. Chinese manufacturers sold 195,000 units at home, up 15 percent, which gave them 55 percent of their domestic market. In 2024 their share was 57 percent, so the home suppliers grew more slowly than the market they serve.

The US passes Japan

The United States installed almost 38,500 robots, up 12 percent and the third highest figure in the federation's records, which lifted it to second place behind China. Japan fell from second to third with 36,219 units, a drop of 19 percent, and the federation does not expect a major recovery in the short to medium term. South Korea installed 30,000, down 1 percent, and stayed fourth; the report says new automotive investment arrives in 2027 and 2028 and could break a flat trend that has held around 31,000 units since 2019.

Elsewhere in the Americas the picture varied. Mexico fell 7 percent to fewer than 5,200 units, its third year of decline. Canada rose 5 percent to almost 4,000. Brazil installed almost 4,300 robots, up 38 percent, with its car industry taking almost 2,100, an increase of 212 percent that the federation attributes most likely to Chinese carmakers investing there.

Europe and India

Germany is the fifth largest market in the world and by far the biggest in Europe, with 41 percent of EU installations. Its sales fell 8 percent to fewer than 25,000 units, and the automotive industry, still its largest user, is losing share. Italy came second in Europe with about 7,800 units, down 11 percent, then France with almost 4,500 (down 8 percent) and Spain with about 4,300 (down 15 percent).

India installed almost 10,500 robots, up 15 percent, and ranks sixth, behind Germany. Its volume is small next to the leaders, but installations have grown by 27 percent a year on average between 2020 and 2025.

What the forecast assumes

The federation expects installations to rise 9 percent to 655,000 units in 2026 and reach 806,000 in 2029. It points to the need for resilient supply chains and recent trade and industrial policy as reasons manufacturers are relocating production, and says building capacity in high-wage economies and in countries short of labour will keep demand for automation high. Advances in artificial intelligence, machine vision and sensing, together with easier programming and integration, are expected to widen the range of tasks robots can handle and lower deployment costs.

The report is the source of every figure here, and the federation publishes separate releases for the United States, the EU and China from the same data.

Related on TrustList:

• China's five-year plan puts AI-powered robots at its centre
• QibiTech raises about ¥600 million Series B for HATS, software that makes different makers’ robots work together

Sources

• IFR: Five Million Robots now Operate in Factories Globally, 24 September 2026