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The number of industrial robots at work worldwide rose 9% to a record 5 million.
A dated step forward on the record · Sets Industrial robot arms's stage
What the source says
“The global operational stock of industrial robots surged 9% to a record 5 million units in 2025.”
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.
- Factories around the world installed more than 600,000 new industrial robots in 2025, up 11% on the year before.
- 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.
- US factories installed 38,000 industrial robots in 2025, up 11%. Car makers were the biggest buyers, with 13,500.