Record 4 Million Robots on Factory Floors Worldwide

Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024/news aktuell/AsiaNet/–

Record 1.7 million Robots on China’s Factory Floors

The new World Robotics report recorded 1,755,132 industrial robots working in China’s factories – an increase of 17%. Annual installations reached 276,288 units in 2023. This was down 5% but still the second highest level ever recorded – representing 51% of global demand.

“China has been investing heavily in modern production facilities for more than a decade: Today, the country is by far the world’s largest market for robotics,” says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “Annual installations rank first in the world ahead of Japan and the USA.”

Domestic manufacturers

Chinese manufacturers’ share of the domestic market rose sharply to 47%, or 130,516 units. This figure has remained constant – with some volatility – at around 28% over the past decade.
It has accelerated since 2022. Conversely, installations of foreign robots fell by 21% to 145,772 units. This includes foreign robots manufactured in China by non-Chinese suppliers. This market development is in line with Beijing’s plans to use robots as an engine for growth – recently announced by China’s Central Committee at the Third Plenum in July.

The electrical/electronics industry has been the main customer of industrial robots in China: Total installations was 77,464 units in 2023. This was down 23% from the record level in 2022 but still the second-best result since 2018. The average annual growth rate from 2018 to 2023 was 11%. The Chinese electronics industry installed 62% of the global installations in this industry in 2023. Chinese producers supplied 54% of these robots.

The automotive industry has been the second largest customer industry since 2016. The number of installations reached 64,882 units – a decrease of 12% compared to the peak in 2022. The CAGR from 2018 to 2023 is +11%. China accounted for 48% of global installations in the automotive industry. This market is mainly served by international robot suppliers. The share of Chinese companies was 22%.

Robot installations in the metal and machinery industry increased significantly by 35% to 41,578 units in 2023. This is a new record level. This industry accounted for 15% of total installations in China in 2023. Chinese robot suppliers had a market share of 85%.

Outlook

The Chinese economy is currently suffering from the real estate crisis and as an export-oriented economy also from weak global demand in general. The government has reacted with an expansionary fiscal policy to support liquidity. Indeed, investments by the electronics industry and the automotive industry increased in Q1/2024, and the OECD is expecting GDP growth of 4.9% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025.

Orders for World Robotics 2024 Industrial Robots and Service Robots reports can be placed online. Further downloads on the content are available here.

Downloads
IFR graphs, market presentation and press releases on selected markets in Chinese, German, and Japanese language are available at: https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/record-of-4-million-robots-working-in-factories-worldwide

About IFR
The International Federation of Robotics is the voice of the global robotics industry. IFR represents national robot associations, academia, and manufacturers of industrial and service robots from over twenty countries: www.ifr.org 

The IFR Statistical Department provides data for two annual robotics studies:

World Robotics – Industrial Robots: This unique report provides global statistics on industrial robots in standardized tables and enables national comparisons to be made. It presents statistical data for around 40 countries broken down into areas of application, customer industries, types of robots and other technical and economic aspects. Production, export and import data is listed for selected countries. It also offers robot density, i.e. the number of robots per 10,000 employees, as a measure for the degree of automation.

World Robotics – Service Robots: This unique report describes marketable products, tasks, challenges and new developments by service robots application. The report includes the results of the annual IFR service robot survey* on global sales of professional and consumer service robots and an industry structure analysis including a full list of all service robot producers known to the IFR. The study is jointly prepared with the robotics experts of Fraunhofer IPA, Stuttgart.

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– Picture is available at AP –

Press contact

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