Global robotics continues to grow unabated. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR)’s World Robotics 2026 Report, published on September 24 in Frankfurt, the global installed base of industrial robots rose by 9 percent in 2025 to a record five million units. Factories installed more than 600,000 new robots, 11 percent more than the previous year. China remains the growth driver with 354,000 installations and a 59 percent share. The U.S. has overtaken Japan and is now the second-largest market. For 2026, the IFR expects a nine percent increase to 655,000 units, and 806,000 by 2029.

Germany: Europe’s Number One, but with a Setback

Germany installed a total of 24,800 new industrial robots in 2025 and remains the world’s fifth-largest market. The country accounts for 41 percent of all installations in the EU. “Industrial automation in Germany is at a high level,” says IFR President Jane Heffner. Nevertheless, sales fell by 8 percent, primarily due to weaker demand from the manufacturing sector.

The shift is particularly evident in the automotive industry. It installed 5,800 robots and remains the largest customer with a 23 percent market share—in 2020, its share was still 40 percent. The IFR cites weaker-than-expected sales of electric vehicles and political uncertainties that are delaying investments as the reasons. The metalworking industry installed 5,300 units (down 13 percent), while the chemical and plastics industry installed 3,000 (down 5 percent). Robot production in Germany also declined, by 24 percent to 23,700 units; exports fell by 37 percent to 15,100. The IFR attributes this, among other things, to the shift of manufacturing closer to local markets.

Humanoids in Training: Schaeffler and Hexagon

While the traditional market is weakening, German industrial companies are preparing for the next step. Schaeffler plans to deploy at least 1,000 AEON-type humanoid robots across its global production network by 2032; the motion technology group and Hexagon Robotics reached this agreement in April. Schaeffler also supplies precision actuators for the robot. Since August, AEON has been training at Schaeffler’s “Humanoid Gym” in Germany. There, it learns industrial tasks through imitation learning and is validated before moving into production—without disrupting running production lines. BMW is also relying on AEON at its Leipzig plant: Following an initial test run in December 2025, the pilot phase in high-voltage battery assembly and component manufacturing was planned to begin in the summer of 2026.

Humanoids “Made in Germany”

German manufacturers are also launching their own humanoids. Agile Robots from Munich has announced that it will mass-produce its industrial humanoid, Agile ONE, at its own plant in Bavaria; at HANNOVER MESSE 2026, two Agile ONE units were already assembling miniature robotic arms live on stage. NEURA Robotics from Metzingen announced a Series C funding round of up to 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in June, with participants including Bosch, Schaeffler, and the European Investment Bank. In early September, NEURA reached an agreement with the Italian embedded systems specialist SECO to develop and manufacture computing modules for its robots in Europe.

New to the Field: Aeon Robotics

Aeon Robotics is new to the field. Founded in 2021 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Braunschweig and an exhibitor in the startup area at HANNOVER MESSE 2026, the company unveiled its first fully functional humanoid, AEVO, to the public for the first time at the AI & Robotics Summit in Berlin. The 1.52-meter-tall robot weighs less than 35 kilograms, has 65 degrees of freedom, and is designed to handle payloads of around ten kilograms. The drives, robotic hands, and control system were developed in-house; movements can be demonstrated and taught using hand controllers with force feedback. The startup plans to implement specific industrial applications in collaboration with partners.

Outlook: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises as Growth Drivers

The IFR anticipates another decline in demand in Germany by 2026, but experts expect installation numbers to rise again starting in 2027. The association sees great potential in small and medium-sized enterprises: easy-to-use and cost-effective robots, as well as “robot-as-a-service” models, lower the barriers to entry. Together with the humanoid robots currently being trained in German factories, this could lead to a new wave of automation.