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Record 2.7 Million Robots Work In Factories Around The Globe –IFR presents World Robotics 2020••Robot stock hits new record - plus 12% - sales slows on a high level
New installations: Europe minus 5%, China minus 9%, USA minus 17%

Frankfurt, September 24th, 2020 – The new World Robotics 2020 Industrial Robots reportpresented by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) shows a record of 2.7 million
industrial robots operating in factories around the world – an increase of 12%. Sales ofnew robots remain on a high level with 373,000 units shipped globally in 2019. This is 12%
less compared to 2018, but still the 3rd highest sales volume ever recorded.
“The stock of industrial robots operating in factories around the world today marks the highest
level in history,” says Milton Guerry, President of the International Federation of Robotics.
“Driven by the success story of smart production and automation this is a worldwide increase ofabout 85% within five years (2014-2019). The recent slowdown in sales by 12% reflects thedifficult times the two main customer industries, automotive and electrical/electronics, haveexperienced.”“In addition to that, the consequences from the coronavirus pandemic for the global economy
cannot be fully assessed yet,” proceeds Milton Guerry. “The remaining months of 2020 will be
shaped by adaption to the ´new normal´. Robot suppliers adjust to the demand for new
applications and developing solutions. A major stimulus from large-scale orders is unlikely thisyear. China might be an exception, because the coronavirus was first identified in the Chinesecity of Wuhan in December 2019 and the country already started its recovery in the secondquarter. Other economies report to be at the turning point right now. But it will take a few months
until this translates into automation projects and robot demand. 2021 will see recovery, but it
may take until 2022 or 2023 to reach the pre-crisis level.”International Federation of Robotics(IFR) Secretariat

President
Milton Guerry
General Secretary
Dr. Susanne Bieller

c/o FV R+A im VDMA
Lyoner Strasse 1860528 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

Phone +49 69 66 03-16 97
Fax+49 69 66 03-26 97
E-mail: secretariat@ifr.org
Internetwww.ifr.org

Asia, Europe and the Americas - overview
Asia remains the strongest market for industrial robots - operational stock for the region´slargest adopter China rose by 21% and reached about 783,000 units in 2019. Japan ranks
second with about 355,000 units – plus 12 %. A runner-up is India with a new record of about
26,300 units – plus 15%. Within five years, India has doubled the number of industrial robots
operating in the country´s factories.
The share of newly installed robots in Asia was about two thirds of global supply. Sales ofalmost 140,500 new robots in China is below the record years of 2018 and 2017 but still morethan double the numbers sold five years ago (2014: 57,000 units). Installations of top Asianmarkets slowed down – in China (minus 9%) and Japan (minus 10%).
In China, the broad majority of 71% of new robots was shipped in from foreign suppliers.
Chinese manufacturers still mainly cater to the domestic market, where they gain increasing
market shares. Foreign suppliers deliver some 29% of their units to the automotive industry,
while it is only around 12% for Chinese suppliers. Therefore, foreign suppliers are more affectedby the decline of business in the Chinese automotive industry than the domestic suppliers.
EuropeEurope reached an operational stock of 580,000 units in 2019 – plus 7%. Germany remains themain user with an operational stock of about 221,500 units – this is about three times the stockof Italy (74,400 units), five times the stock of France (42,000 units) and about ten times thestock of the UK (21,700 units).
Robot sales show a differentiated picture for the largest markets within the European Union:
About 20,500 robots were installed in Germany. This is below the record year 2018 (minus23%) but on the same level as 2014-2016. Sales in France (+15%), Italy (+13%) and theNetherlands (+8%) went up. Robotics in the United Kingdom remains on a low level – newinstallations slowed down by 16%. The newly installed 2,000 units in the UK are about ten times
less than the shipments in Germany (20,500 units), about five times less than in Italy (11,100units) and about three times less than in France (6,700 units).
Americas
The USA is the largest industrial robot user in the Americas, reaching a new operational stock
record of about 293.200 units – up 7%. Mexico comes second with 40,300 units, which is a plusof 11% followed by Canada with about 28,600 units – plus 2%.
New installations in the United States slowed down by 17% in 2019 compared to the record
year of 2018. Although, with 33,300 shipped units, sales remain on a very high level
representing the second strongest result of all time. Most of the robots in the USA are imported
from Japan and Europe. Although, there are not many North American robot manufacturers,
there are numerous important robot system integrators. Mexico ranks second in North America
with almost 4,600 units – a slowdown of 20%. Sales in Canada are 1% up to a new record ofabout 3,600 shipped units.
South America´s number one operational stock is in Brazil with almost 15,300 units – plus 8%.
Sales slowed down by 17% with about 1,800 installations – still one of the best results ever only beaten by record shipments in 2018.

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Worldwide trend in human-robot collaboration
The adoption of human-robot collaboration is on the rise. We saw cobot installations grew by
11%. This dynamic sales performance was in contrast to the overall trend with traditional
industrial robots in 2019. As more and more suppliers offer collaborative robots and the range ofapplications becomes bigger, the market share reached 4.8% of the total of 373,000 industrial
robots installed in 2019. Although this market is growing rapidly, it is still in its infancy.
OutlookGlobally, COVID-19 has a strong impact on 2020 - but also offers a chance for modernizationand digitalization of production on the way to recovery. In the long run, the benefits of increasing
robot installations remain the same: Rapid production and delivery of customized products atcompetitive prices are the main incentives. Automation enables manufacturers to keep
production in developed economies - or reshore it - without sacrificing cost efficiency. The rangeof industrial robots continues to expand – from traditional caged robots capable of handling all
payloads quickly and precisely to new collaborative robots that work safely alongside humans,
fully integrated into workbenches.
Graphics and further files

Please find graphics, press releases in other languages and presentation for download at:https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/record-2.7-million-robots-work-in-factories-around-theglobe
Video

YouTube video with FACTS about ROBOTS 2020: https://youtu.be/Fsn_w_gmHyk

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 robot manufacturers from overtwenty countries. IFR was founded in 1987 as a non-profit organization: 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 instandardized tables and enables national comparisons to be made. It presents statistical data for around40 countries broken down into areas of application, customer industries, types of robots and othertechnical and economic aspects. Production, export and import data is listed for selected countries. It alsooffers robot density, i.e. the number of robots per 10,000 employees, as a measure for the degree ofautomation.
World Robotics - Service Robots: This unique report provides global statistics on service robots,
market analyses, and forecasts on the worldwide distribution of professional and personal service robots.
The study is jointly prepared with our partner Fraunhofer IPA, Stuttgart.
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