China overtakes Germany in the use of industrial robots

Although Germany installed a record number of 28,355 industrial robots in 2023, it is lagging well behind China in terms of medium-term momentum: the average annual installation rate (CAGR) between 2018 and 2023 was just 1%. China exceeded this result twelvefold in the same period.

"China has invested heavily in automation technology and ranks third in robot density in 2023 after South Korea and Singapore, ahead of Germany and Japan," says Takayuki Ito, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "This is particularly remarkable because China only reached the top 10 in the global ranking in 2019. The robot density figure is an important indicator for making the automation of the manufacturing industry internationally comparable by country."

The top countries

South Korea is the world leader in automation in the manufacturing industry with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees. Robot density has increased by an average of 5% annually since 2018. With a world-leading electronics industry and a strong automotive sector, the Korean economy benefits from two major customer industries for industrial robots.

Singapore follows in second place with 770 robots per 10,000 employees. The electronics industry is by far the largest customer sector for industrial robots with a share of 75 to 90%. Singapore's robot density is very high due to the rather low number of employees in the manufacturing industry and the rapidly increasing operational stock.

China ranks third and has more than doubled the ratio of robots per 10,000 factory workers since 2019 (2019: 206; 2023: 470 units). The number of employees in the manufacturing industry is particularly high at around 37 million people.

Germany follows in fourth place with 429 robots per 10,000 employees. Robot density in Europe's largest economy has increased at an average annual growth rate of 5% since 2018.

Japan ranks fifth with 419 units. The robot density of the country with the largest manufacturing sector for industrial robots grew by an average of 7% per year (2018 - 2023). The robot density in the USA is 95 units. This puts the country in tenth place worldwide.

Robot density by region

In 2023, the average robot density worldwide rose to a new record of 162 units per 10,000 employees - more than twice as many as seven years previously (2016: 74 units).

The European Union has a robot density of 219 units per 10,000 employees. This corresponds to an increase of 5.2% compared to the previous year. Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Slovenia are among the top ten automated economies in the world.

The robot density in North America is 197 units per 10,000 employees - an increase of 4.2%. The United States is one of the ten countries with the highest robot density.

Asia has a robot density of 182 units per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry. This is an increase of 7.6%. The economies of South Korea, Singapore, China and Japan are among the ten most automated countries.