Warehouse
Factories around the world installed more than 600,000 new industrial robots in 2025, up 11% on the year before.
A dated step forward on the record · Sets Industrial robot arms's stage
What the source says
“Factories worldwide installed more than 600,000 new units over the year.”
What it means
Industrial robot arms, from FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa, and others, is at stage 5 of 5 on our ladder: regulator-cleared or mass market. This event is one of the milestones that placed it there.
Human help: Our sources report it working without human help.
More on Industrial robot arms
- A3, a US automation trade group, said North American companies ordered 10,989 robots worth $723.5 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 24.8% in units from a year earlier.
- The International Federation of Robotics reported that more than five million industrial robots were operating in factories worldwide, with more than 600,000 installed during 2025.
- In China, Chinese robot makers sold more robots than foreign makers did.
- Japan installed 36,219 industrial robots in 2025, down 19%, and fell to third place behind China and the US.
- The number of industrial robots at work worldwide rose 9% to a record 5 million.
- US factories installed 38,000 industrial robots in 2025, up 11%. Car makers were the biggest buyers, with 13,500.