The International Federation of Robotics has published figures on the global robotics market. While installations are stagnating in China, Europe and the USA are stepping on the gas in automation. But Switzerland is catching up only slowly.
Most robots per capita work in East Asia and automation in Europe is advancing. These are two findings from the "World Robotics Report" of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). According to the IFR, investments in robotics rose to 16.5 billion US dollars last year - a record figure. Worldwide, 422,000 units were delivered - an increase of 6 percent compared to 2017. The figures from the previous year can be found here.
According to IFR President Junji Tsuda, the growth is remarkable. The trade conflict between China and the USA is depressing investment, especially in the automotive and electronics industries. The organization expects a "pause in growth" in 2019, but expects annual growth of 12 percent between 2020 and 2022.
Number of robotic systems installed per 10,000 employees. (Source: IFR)
According to IFR President Junji Tsuda, the growth is remarkable. The trade conflict between China and the USA is depressing investment, especially in the automotive and electronics industries. The organization expects a "pause in growth" in 2019, but expects annual growth of 12 percent between 2020 and 2022.
Chinese companies installed the most robotic systems in 2018 (154,000), according to the report. However, in this country, there was a decline of 1 percent. In Europe, the second-largest market, investments grew by 14 percent, in the USA even by 22 percent.
Singapore has the highest robot density, with 831 robots per 10,000 employees. The city-state overtook the previous leader South Korea. With 146 robots, Switzerland is above the global average of 99 and Finland is outdated, but still lagging behind its neighboring countries.
The number of robots installed is expected to stagnate in 2019, after which IFR forecasts continued growth. (Source: IFR)
In the new report, IFR analyzed the market for collaborative industrial robots (Cobots) for the first time. Despite the strong media attention for the topic, the number of installed units is still very low at 3.24 percent. In 2018, this was less than 14,000 of the more than 422,000 industrial robots installed. Between 2017 and 2018, Cobots' annual installations increased by 23 percent.