Robotics Industry Statistics and Facts – 2024

Robotics Industry Statistics

Since the early 1980s, it seems that the entire world has been moving towards technological advancements that resemble Sci-Fi movies more and more. Robotics statistics show that not only are we accelerating at a very rapid pace towards a robot-driven world, but chances are that we will get there sooner, rather than later.

150,000 people worldwide are employed by the robotics industry in engineering and assembly positions.

Inspired by movies, books, and all the latest inventions, this innovative sector is pushing the limits of what we consider possible today further and further. 

Approximately 88% of all businesses around the globe have plans of adopting robotics as part of their infrastructure automation process.

Robot statistics are extremely interesting to look at and to analyze, given that they offer a glimpse of what our day to day life will be like in the future.

$16.5 billion is the total estimated worldwide spending on military robotics for 2025.

Some robotics facts are so fascinating, they will make you feel like you’re already living in the future. Let’s go over them together.

10 Fascinating Facts about Robotics

  • 465,000 robotic units were sold worldwide last year.
  • $16.5 billion is the total estimated worldwide spending on military robotics for 2025.
  • Over 200 companies around the globe handle robotics production for the healthcare industry.
  • $20 billion is the total expected value of the robotics industry by 2028.
  • $22 million is the amount of money saved by Amazon’s cobots.
  • 12 million robotic units were registered worldwide in 2020.
  • Approximately 584,000 robotic units will be shipped in 2022.
  • 3.05 million industrial robots were installed across industries all over the globe.
  • Approximately 88% of all businesses around the globe have plans of adopting robotics as part of their infrastructure automation process.
  • Veebot robots have an 83% accuracy in identifying the best vein to draw blood from patients.

Robotics Industry Growth

All the relevant data and a vast majority of the latest studies show that the robotics sector will continue to grow in the next decades at a never-before-seen rate.

$16.5 billion is the total estimated worldwide spending on military robotics for 2025.

If those numbers will not impress you, most likely nothing will. In 2019, the United States government spent approximately 718.69 billion on its military. 

12% is the total increase in shipments for robots around the globe.

This 12% increase is estimated for the 2 year period between 2020 and 2022. 

56% year over year is the annual growth rate for robotics in the foods and consumer goods industry.

That means that the industry is growing more than half its size every year.

51% year over year is the estimated growth for the robotics sector in the plastics and rubber industries.

Yet another industry that is adopting robots at a very rapid pace.

39% year over year is the annual estimated growth rate for robots in the automotive industry.

The automotive industry is one of the biggest players when it comes to installing industrial robots as it is an essential part of their operations. 

11% is the growth rate of robotics orders in the electrical, photonics, and semiconductors sectors.

2021 saw a huge increase in many fields, especially since 2020 was strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

3.5% is the growth in robotics orders from North American companies.

One of the highest growth recorded for this sector was 60%, between Q4 in 2019 and Q4 in 2020. 

25% is the CAGR for agriculture drones between 2019 and 2024.

Agriculture drones are being used to cover large size crops.

How Big Is The Robotics Industry – Statistics

The robotics industry is growing at a very rapid pace, making technological advancements possible at an exponential rate. 

Over 200 companies around the globe handle robotics production for healthcare. industry.

And the number of newly-founded companies just keep piling up. 

150,000 people worldwide are employed by the robotics industry in engineering and assembly positions.

Robotics in business is getting more and more traction, and that’s why most leading executives plan on adding robots and automation to their companies’ daily operations. 

15% to 20% is the CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for revenue in the robotics industry by 2028.

The industry will continue to grow at a global level, thus generating more and more revenue.

$20 billion is the total expected value of the robotics industry by 2028.

In less than 7 years, the robotics industry will become one of the most important economic sectors worldwide.

$22 million is the amount of money saved by Amazon’s cobots.

These numbers are reached every time cobots are added to a new facility or warehouse, as opposed to hiring the needed number of employees to cover the same tasks. 

Amazon’s employees would spend approximately 80% of their time navigating through warehouses without the help of cobots.

Having such huge warehouses ranging between 400,000 and 1,000,000 square feet, employees would have to spend most of their time just looking around for packages instead of handling other orders. 

$3.28 billion is the estimated global market size of healthcare robots by 2025.

The industry is growing at an alarming rate, and the healthcare sector is one of the most important players when it comes to robotics installments. The healthcare industry will grow with a 2.8% CAGR by 2025. 

How Many Robots Are In The World?

The number of robots used in industry and all other sectors is constantly growing, given the need for more and more machines and automated processes, in contrast with the need for human physical labor. 

12 million robotic units were registered worldwide in 2020.

That’s more than the total population of Belgium (which is approximately 11.5 million people) 

465,000 robotic units were sold worldwide last year.

That’s more than the total number of Toyota RAV4 units sold in 2020 (430,387 units were sold last year).

Approximately 584,000 robotic units will be shipped in 2022.

We’re going to see a 12% rise in the number of robots shipped worldwide in a time span of just 1 year. 

38,400 robotic units were ordered by the global healthcare industry in a time span of 5 years.

In 2021 alone, 10,500 robotics units were shipped worldwide. 

There are 1,287 robots per 10,000 workers active in the automotive industry today.

That’s basically 12.8% of the entire automotive industry’s workforce.

Global Robotics Market Size

Simply by looking over the first robotics statistics that pop up in any Google search, you’ll soon come to realize the amplitude of this constantly expanding industry. 

31,044 robotics were ordered in North America throughout 2020.

North American companies chose to invest in robotics in a year plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to boost their businesses even in tough economic times. 

$1.5 billion is the total estimated income for the robotics industry in North America.

Robot sales show that with 9,972 sold in the last part of 2020 (namely Q4), the industry generated approximately $480 million.

69% is the growth in orders for science and pharmaceutical robots in 2021.

Robots in industry continue to gain more and more ground with exponential increases in number of sales and adoption rates. 

$24 billion is the total estimated market of collaborative robotics (cobots) by 2030.

With a 28.6 CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), cobots are beginning to take over the industrial robotics sector. 

$20.6 billion will be the total global market size for agricultural robotics by 2025.

These numbers will continue to grow along with the need for more food, as the world’s population is constantly growing as well.

$7.4 billion is the total market size reached for agricultural robots in 2020.

Robotics in agriculture is estimated to grow with a 22.8% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) up until 2025. 

$30.8 billion is the expected market value of military robotics by 2022.

This industry will witness a 12.92% CAGR between the years 2020 and 2022.

Industrial Robots Statistics

Industrial robots are one of the most important categories of robots sold throughout the world at the moment, given their vast area of jobs they can be used for.

34% of all robot sales will come from collaborative robots aka cobots.

This prediction is set to be fulfilled in 2025, when more than a third of all robots will be cobots, when it comes to the numbers of sales. 

3.05 million industrial robots were installed across industries all over the globe.

These robots were installed between 2017 and 2020, totalling an extra 1.7 million new robots during the entire installment process. 

310,000 industrial robotics installations took place in 2021 in China.

Japan came in second place with “only” 61,000 robotic installations this year.

With 46,000 industrial robotic installations in 2020, South Korea and the United States share the third spot.

Industrial robots facts show that China has more robotics installations in one year than the countries of Japan, South Korea and the United States put together.

$59.9 billion is the projected market size for global industrial robotics by 2026.

That’s more than the annual GDP of Bulgaria (which is approximately $58.2 billion). 

42% of robots worldwide are part of the automotive industry.

This makes the automotive industry the number one robotics adopter out of all industries around the globe.

Robots can be used in almost any way imaginable. From heavy industries and manufacturing, all the way to transportation and entertainment. This is why the trends will continue to change and evolve within the next couple of years.

Approximately 88% of all businesses around the globe have plans of adopting robotics as part of their infrastructure automation process.

Given the huge proportion of corporations that are currently looking into and implementing robotics in their business, we can expect this industry to skyrocket. 

40,000 cobots (collaborative robotics) were sold in 2020.

Collaborative robotics (called “cobots”) are becoming a bigger and more important part of the robotics industry, given their large range of uses and applications. 

Veebot robots have an 83% accuracy in identifying the best vein to draw blood from patients.

These robots can draw blood from a person’s vein in less than 1 minute. It has better accuracy than human hospital personnel. 

Hospital-Acquired Infections are reduced by 70% with the help of Xenex robots.

One out of every 25 hospital patients will get an HAI in a US medical establishment. More so, 1 out of every 9 of those patients will die. The total cost of HAI to the United States’ healthcare system is estimated at approximately $30 billion per year. 

$6.2 billion is the projected market value of agricultural drones by 2024.

Agricultural drones are a really big deal at the moment, as they can help in planting more seed and water large areas at very small costs.

15 Biggest Robotics Companies In The World

Honda Motor

Total assets: $188.5 billion

Number of employees: 219,722

Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

  • $142.4 billion is the total annual revenue generated by Honda Motor.
  • $42.6 billion is the market cap of this robotics Japanese company.
Siemens AG

Total assets: $171 billion

Number of employees: 385,000

Headquarters: Munich, Germany

  • $97.4 billion is the total annual revenue generated by Siemens AG.
  • With a $75.4 billion market cap, this German company is the second-largest robotics company in the world.
Sony (NYSE: SNE)

Total assets: $208.3 billion

Number of employees: 114,400

Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

  • $79.2 billion is the total annual revenue generated by Sony.
  • $78.7 billion is the total market cap for yet another Japanese company present in the TOP 3.
Denso Corp

Total assets: $52.4 billion

Number of employees: 171,992

Headquarters: Kariya, Japan

  • With $47.4 billion in total annual revenue, Denso Corp ranks on the number 4 spot.
  • The company’s total market cap is estimated at $227.6 billion.
Midea Group

Total assets: $40 billion

Number of employees: 114,765

Headquarters: Foshan, China

  • With a $39.9 billion annual revenue, Midea Group is the world’s biggest Chinese robotics company in the world today.
  • $52.9 billion is the company’s total market cap.
ABB (NYSE: ABB)

Total assets: $46.1 billion

Number of employees: 144,400

Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

  • $28 billion is the company’s total annual revenue, being only the second European enterprise to make it into the TOP 10.
  • $401.62 million is ABB’s current market cap.
Yamaha Motor

Total assets: $14.1 billion

Number of employees: 55,255

Headquarters: Iwata, Japan

  • $15.3 billion is the total annual revenue of yet another large Japanese robotics enterprise.
  • The company’s market cap is set at $4.6 billion.
Seiko Epson

Total assets: $9.4

Number of employees: 75,608

Headquarters: Suwa, Japan

  • $9.9 billion is the total annual revenue generated by Seiko Epson.
  • $5.6 billion is the company’s current market cap.
KION Group

Total assets: $15.5 billion

Number of employees: 34,604

Headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany

  • With $9.7 billion, KION Group is yet another European company to make a name for itself in the global robotics industry.
  • $5.9 billion is the German company’s market cap.
Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK)

Total assets: $6.7 billion

Number of employees: 23,000

Headquarters: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  • With total annual revenue of $6.8 billion, Rockwell Automation is the first US-based company to crack the TOP 10.
  • $30.04 billion is the American’s company market cap.
Fanuc Corp

Total assets: $14 billion

Number of employees: 7,866

Headquarters: Oshino-mura, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

  • $4.7 billion is Fanuc Corp’s total annual revenue.
  • $32 billion is the market cap of the Japan-based company.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG)

Total assets: $9.9 billion

Number of employees: 7,326

Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California

  • $4.6 billion annual revenue is the number reached by the California-based robotics company.
  • The company has a very high $93.2 billion market cap.
Yaskawa Electric (YASKY)

Total assets: not public

Number of employees: 15,179

Headquarters: Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan

  • $4.3 billion is the total annual revenue generated by Yaskawa Electric.
  • $8.2 billion is the total market cap for this company.
Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA)

Total assets: $1.9 billion

Number of employees: 8,200

Headquarters: Lincolnshire, Illinois

  • $3.8 billion is the annual generated revenue by Zebra Technologies.
  • $21.05 billion is the market cap for yet another American presence in the TOP 15.
iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT)

Total assets: bot public

Number of employees: 528

Headquarters: Bedford, Massachusetts

  • $1.3 billion is the total annual revenue generated by iRobot, a US-based robotics company.
  • $2.23 billion is the market cap set for iRobot.

Japan Robotics Statistics

When it comes to robots and the entire robotics industry, you have to talk about Japan and the huge impact this country has on this entire sector.

61,000 industrial robotic installations have been set up in 2021 in Japan.

Looking at these robotics industry statistics, this puts the island nation in second place, only after China, which had 310 000 industrial robotic installations during the same year. 

Up to 40 times per day is the number of times bear-shaped robots can move around patients in hospitals.

These robots are used in hospitals from around the world, mostly in developed countries like Japan and the United States.

$142.2 billion per year is the total generated revenue by Honda Motor, the world’s largest robotics company in the world.

Honda Motor is a Japanese company with 219,722 employees, based in Japan’s capital city, Tokyo.

3 out of the TOP 5 biggest robotics companies in the world are from Japan.

These companies are Honda Motor, Sony and Denso Corp.

Conclusion

Whether you’re scared about robots and machines taking over and replacing the entire workforce or not, one thing is certain, and that’s that robots are here to stay. Any form of automation leads to technological advancements and more companies are realizing this year after year.

Robotics statistics show an impressive growth in the number of companies that are planning to implement machines to do the work previously done by human employees, and that will lead to a large chunk of unemployed people.

However, there shouldn’t be so many reasons to fear this inevitable change, as the most updated robot statistics also point out that people are being offered professional reconversion options if machines will be replacing them. All in all, the future looks bright. How do you see your industry changing in the next couple of years?

Leave a Reply