5 million industrial robots now at work as China takes 59% of 2025 installations, IFR says

Five million industrial robots were operating in factories worldwide at the end of 2025, up 9% in a year, according to the International Federation of Robotics’ World Robotics 2026 report, released September 24, 2026. More than 600,000 units were installed during 2025, an increase of 11%, and China accounted for 59% of them.

Why it matters: this is the baseline that every physical AI growth claim sits on. Conventional industrial arms are still growing at double digits, and the geography of that growth, not humanoid demos, decides where automation budgets go.

How many industrial robots are there in the world?

About 5 million at the end of 2025, the IFR says. “The new mark of five million robots operational in factories worldwide is more than double the number seven years ago,” said IFR President Jane Heffner. Annual installations passed 600,000 units, up 11% on 2024. Asia grew fastest and the Americas second, while Germany, Italy, France and Spain all declined.

These are industrial robots: arms and similar machines on production lines. They are a different category from the roughly 7,000 humanoids the IFR counted separately for 2025, which we covered in IFR’s first humanoid count. On these numbers, one year of industrial installations is more than 80 times the entire 2025 humanoid market by units.

Which countries installed the most industrial robots in 2025?

China, by a wide margin, followed by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany and India. The table below lists the markets the IFR reported, as of the World Robotics 2026 release on September 24, 2026.

Country	Industrial robots installed in 2025	Change vs 2024
China	354,000	+20%
United States	38,500	+12%
Japan	36,219	−19%
South Korea	30,000	−1%
Germany	25,000	−8%
India	10,500	+15%
Italy	7,800	−11%
Mexico	5,200	−7%
France	4,500	−8%
Brazil	4,300	+38%
Spain	4,300	−15%
Canada	4,000	+5%

China installed 354,000 units, up 20%. Chinese suppliers sold more robots at home than foreign suppliers did: their installations rose 15% to 195,000 units, although their share of the domestic market slipped to 55% from 57% in 2024 because foreign suppliers grew faster.

India installed about 10,500 units, up 15%, and has averaged 27% annual growth from 2020 to 2025. Germany, with 25,000 units, accounts for 41% of EU installations but fell 8%; Italy, France and Spain also declined. Brazil rose 38%, driven by a 212% jump in automotive installations.

Did the US overtake Japan in robot installations?

Yes. US installations rose 12% to almost 38,500 units in 2025, the third-highest figure in the history of the IFR’s statistics, making the US the world’s second-largest market. Japan fell 19% to 36,219 units, and the IFR says a major recovery there is unlikely in the short to medium term. South Korea installed 30,000 units, down 1%. It has been roughly flat since 2019, but the IFR expects new automotive investments to take effect in 2027 and 2028 and says Korean demand may grow in 2027. For how Korean companies are positioned beyond conventional arms, see our ranking of Korea’s physical AI firms.

How many industrial robots will be installed by 2029?

The IFR forecasts 655,000 installations in 2026, up 9%, rising to 806,000 a year in 2029. It names relocation of production, trade and industrial policy and labour shortages as the main drivers. That path lifts annual installations by about 200,000 units between 2025 and 2029. Even aggressive bank forecasts for humanoids, such as Goldman Sachs’ 890,000 units in 2030 covered in our report on that forecast, would only match the conventional market if humanoid volumes grow more than a hundredfold from the IFR’s 2025 count.