The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) has published its 2019 World Robotics Report . Statistics of the industry association reveal that 422,000 robots were delivered in 2018 – 6% more than in the year before, with sales rising to 16.5 billion US dollars, a new record. For 2019 the association forecasts a slight decrease, but expects an average growth rate of 12% for 2020-2022.

After Singapore and South Korea, Germany, with a robot density of 338 units per 10,000 workers, comes in at third place worldwide. The number of industrial robots purchased here in 2018 went up by 26% to nearly 27,000 units – another record high. By far the greatest demand came from the automotive industry.

In 2018, 74% of the world’s robot installations were carried out in China, Japan, the US, South Korea, and Germany. At 36% of total installations, China is the largest robotics market in the world, even though the number of newly installed units fell by 1% to 154,000. In comparison, sales in Japan went up by 21% to 55,000 units. In the US, installations saw an all-time high of 40,300 units.