HIGHLIGHTS
The new World Robotics report released yesterday, recorded 4,281,585 units operating in factories worldwide – an increase of 10%.
Annual installations exceeded half a million units for the third consecutive year. By region, 70% of all newly deployed robots 2023 were installed in Asia, 17% in Europe and 10% in the Americas.
The Automotive industry continues to be a major driver of Robotic adoption
Africa remains the robotics industries backwater with the report not even covering the continent.
Asia Leads the Way
According to the newly released Statistics, China is the world´s largest robotics adopter with an additional 276,288 industrial robots installed in 2023. This represents a massive 51% of the global installations.
The share of Chinese manufacturers in the domestic market has grown considerably since 2022, reaching 47% in 2023, compared to an average of around 28% over the past decade.
The Chinese operational stock was just under the 1.8-million-unit-mark in 2023, making China the first and only country in the world with such a large robot stock.
Demand for robots is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2024, with a lot of growth potential in Chinese manufacturing still expected and a projected 5-10% average annual growth anticipated until 2027.
Japan retained its No2 ranking in the global market for industrial robots. The total number of new Robot installations was 46,106 units in 2023 – down 9% compared to 2022 where they were at a high of 50,435 units. Demand for robots is expected to remain stagnant in 2024 but is set to recover in 2025 in Japan.
The Republic of South Korea, as world fourth ranked robotics adopter, is trending sideways with installations hitting 31,444 units in 2023 – down 1% year-on-year.
India is rapidly growing in terms of robotic adoption and is also one of the fastest growing emerging Asian economies. Robot installations increased by a significant 59% to 8,510 units in 2023, a new high for the Asian manufacturing nation with particular demand in the automotive industry, which saw an increase in new deployments of 3,551 units – an increase of 139%. Both car manufacturers and parts suppliers contributed to this increase.
Europe
Industrial robot installations in Europe rose 9% to a new high of 92,393 units. In total, 80% of installations in 2023 could be attributed to destinations in the European Union (73,534 units, up by 2%).
Delayed projects were also completed, and the backlog for installations was cleared in 2023. Robot demand in the region also benefited from the nearshoring trend. In 2023, growth was strongly driven by the automotive industry investing in traditionally strong car manufacturing countries such as Spain (5,053 units +31%) but also in smaller markets such as Slovakia (2,174 units, +48%) or Hungary (1,657 units, +31%).
Installations in Germany, the largest European market and the only European one in the global top five, were up 7% to 28,355 units. Installations in the second largest European market, Italy, declined by 9% to 10,412 units. The third largest European market, France, was down 13%, installing 6,386 units.
In the UK, industrial robot installations increased by 51% to 3,830 units in 2023. Investment was driven by installations in the automotive industry, mainly for assembly tasks.
The Americas
Robot installations in the Americas exceeded 50,000 units for the third year in a row: 55,389 units were installed in 2023, just 1% below the record level reached 2022.
The United States, the largest regional market, accounted for 68% of installations in the Americas in 2023. Robot installations were down by 5% to 37,587, this is the third highest record figure after 2022 and 2018. Demand from the automotive industry fell by 15% to 12,421 units. This was in line with the average for the past decade. Installations in the metal and machinery industry were up 8% to 4,171 units. Installations in the US electrical/electronics industry remained steady at 3,900 units (+1%).
In Canada, robot installations rose 37% to 4,311 units. Installation figures in Canada largely depend on automotive investment cycles. The share of the car industry was 58% in 2023.
Robot demand in Mexico is driven by the automotive industry, which accounts for 70% of the market: Installations from this sector fell by 5% to 4,087 units, showing the cyclical demand pattern well known in this customer segment. Total installations reached 5,832 units in 2023, a decrease of 3%.
Outlook
The OECD expects global growth to stabilize. However, geopolitical headwinds are still perceived as a major risk and uncertainty factor. Recent crises have raised political awareness of domestic production capacity in strategic industries. Automation allows manufacturers to locate production in developed economies without sacrificing cost efficiency. By 2024, the global economic downturn will have bottomed out. Global robot installations are expected to level off at 541,000 units. Growth is expected to accelerate in 2025 and continue in 2026 and 2027. There are no signs that the overall long-term growth trend will end in the near future
