27+ Astonishing Robotics Industry Statistics You Should Know in 2023

What started as a simple design to help humans lift and carry heavy equipment has now developed into an advanced machine capable of thinking, learning, and performing countless activities without the help or guide of any human. The latest robotics industry statistics indicate that robots are slowly becoming a crucial part of our daily life.

But that’s not all.

2022 is obviously the year of changes. What does that mean for robotics?

We at TechJury have handpicked some of the most fantastic robotics industry statistics for 2020 to show you a whole new world.

Kindly stick with us as we take you through this awesome ride!

Fascinating Robotics Industry Statistics

The following are some of the most stunning robotics industry stats to keep you glued to your screen until the end of this post.

• There are three million industrial robots as of February 2022. 
• Global spending on military robotics will be $16.5 billion in 2025.
• The robotics industry already employs about 150,000 people worldwide in engineering and assembly jobs.
• The number of robotic units sold in 2021 was 435,000.
• Between 2020 and 2022, there would be a 12% increase in shipments of robots worldwide.
• Collaborative robots (cobots) will constitute 34% of all robot sales by 2025.
• 88% of businesses worldwide plan to adopt robotic automation into their infrastructure.
• In 2021, North American business orders for robotic units went up 32%. 

Amazing, right? 

We have even more for you!

General Robots Industry Statistics

Now that you have an idea of the extent to which robots are being applied across industries worldwide, let us take you through some more in-depth robotics industry stats for 2022.

1. There were 3 million industrial robots worldwide in 2021.

(Source: Automation)

This figure has remained the same since 2020 due to the “boom after crisis”. However, robotics industry stats for 2022 predict that this crisis will fade by the end of the year and catch-ups are to be expected between 2022 and 2023. 

By 2024, there will be up to 500,000 industrial robot units installed each year.

2. The number of robotic units sold in 2021 was 435,000.

(Source: IFR) 

Experts predict that in 2022, up to 43,000 units will be installed in North America. Purchases and installations in Europe are expected to reach 73,000 while Asia expects to install over 300,000 units.

3. Between 2020-2022, there would be a 12% increase in shipments of robots worldwide.

(Source: IFR)

Statistics on robot sales indicate that this could drive the yearly robotics unit sales from 465,000 in 2020 to 584,000 units in 2022. However, the IFR points to the increasing need for automation in manufacturing processes, plus advancements in technology to be the primary driving force within the forecasted period of increased robotics unit sales.

4. 88% of businesses worldwide plan to adopt robotic automation into their infrastructure.

(Source: McKinsey)

Automation brings about higher productivity, increased rate of efficiency, improved safety of personnel, better product quality, overall increased revenue, etc. Robots are designed to perform repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans. More recently, with AI and ML, they are being created to think, learn, and draw accurate conclusions without the help of humans. 

Sectors like the automobile industry have been running on automation for many years. It also remains one of the chief pioneers of the recent surge in robotics sales worldwide. 

5. In 2021, China has 310 000 industrial robotic installations, the highest in the world.

(Source: The Robot Report)

Global industrial robot statistics for 2021 show that China is the most significant industrial robotics consumer in the world, with 310 000 setups. Japan comes in second with 61 000. South Korea and the United States tie in third place with 46 000 installations. 

6. Organizations in North America sold 39,708 robotics sold in 2021.

(Source: DBusiness 

According to robotics industry statistics, companies in North America sold 39,708 robotics in 2021. These purchases brought the industry an income of $2 billion. 

Robotics Industry Growth 

Robotics is being effectively utilized for increased productivity and improved efficiency. In this section, we will be discussing some robotics industry statistics for 2022 to show where robotics has found significant usage over the years.

7. In Q2 2021, robotics orders grew with 67%.  

(Source: RoboDK) 

The following sectors marked an increase:

• life sciences/pharmaceutical/biomed -  21%
• automotive OEM - 49%
• food & consumer goods - 51%
• plastics & rubber - 51%
• semiconductor & electronics/photonics - 62%
• automotive components - 85%
• metals - 99%

8. The military robotics global spending is estimated to reach $30b by 2025. 

(Source: EES Corporation)

Experts predict that soon the military robotics market share will reach $30.8 billion and have a CAGR of 12.92%. Also, global spending on military robotics alone is set to hit $16.5 billion by Q4 2025.

9. In Q3 of 2021, North American companies got 9,928 robots, worth $513 million.

(Source: Robotics 247)

This was the largest increase recorded since 2017. 

10. There will be an annual growth rate of between 15 to 20% in robotics revenue by 2028.

(Source: Robotics Tomorrow)

According to robotics industry stats, there will be a minimum of 15% growth by 2028. By then, income from the sector will be at around $20 billion. That will be a massive increase from 2018 when it was below 5%.  

Robot vs. Human Statistics

More recently, there has been a growing need for cobots (robots that collaborate effectively with humans) across various industries. This will ultimately aid human effort in production processes while achieving improved results and reduced personnel risk in the workplace. And if you are wondering if your job is going to be replaced by a robot, we've curated a list of eye-opening jobs lost to automation statistics, that will address all your concerns. 

Let us take a look at some of the most intriguing stats about cobots in 2022.

11. Amazon cobots save the company as much as $22 million every time they are added to a newly opened warehouse.

(Source: Business Insider) 

For companies like Amazon with warehouses from 400,000 and up to 1,000,000 square feet, a few workers just can’t manage. According to statistics, warehouses as big as that of Amazon not utilizing cobots will find that 80% of workers’ time will be spent navigating through the whole warehouse. This means only 20% of workers’ time will be spent on productive tasks like fulfilling orders. 

With cobots like "Kiva," Amazon has successfully reversed the trend, such that employees are spending 80% of their time fulfilling orders and only 20% of their time navigating through warehouses. When you combine that with an effective inventory management system you have the recipe for Amazon's success. 

12. Collaborative robots (cobots) will constitute 34% of all robot sales by 2025.

(Source: Robotics)

Various manufacturing processes already used cobots in 2021. In automotive, for example, cobots add an extra layer of security in the workplace through sensors that can detect the presence of humans in unsafe zones, thereby prompting the shutdown of the whole system. These are some of the features the traditional robotic systems lack. 

According to industrial robot statistics, in 2016, only 3% of all industrial robots sold were cobots. However, collaborative and smart robot installation increased by 23% between 2017 and 2018. This trend is expected to continue given the growing importance of human/robot interaction across various industries.

13. The collaborative robotics (cobots) market is predicted to exceed $24 billion by 2030.

(Source: ABI Research)

In 2015, the collaborative robotics market was valued at just $95 million. By the end of 2019, it was worth a little over $1 billion. Reports predict an increase with a CAGR of 28.6% till 2030.

14. Universal Robots generated revenue of over $311 million in 2021.

(Source: Robotics 247)

The Odense, robotics company based in Denmark, also stated that they experienced a 41% increase in revenue in 2021.

Robot Investment Statistics

Here some robotics industry statistics for 2022 to get you familiar with the movements of cash within the robotics market.

15. Currently, there are over 200 companies worldwide involved in robotics production for the healthcare sector.

(Source: Omdia | Tractica)

Robots provide a means of reduced cost-of-care in the healthcare sector and reduced menial tasks for humans. It also provides enhanced forms of therapy and rehabilitation, while also improving the accuracy of repetitive healthcare tasks. Surgical, nursing, disinfectant, hospital logistics, rehabilitation, exoskeleton are good examples of robots in healthcare. 

There are plenty of ways that robot manufacturing companies can contribute to the healthcare sector. It is no surprise that so many of them are willing to invest billions of dollars into several robotics projects.

16. By 2022, the total sales of robotic units for the year could rise to 584,000.

(Source: IFR)

As the need for automation continues to rise, and robots get cheaper, more industries will continue to adopt robot units into their system for improved efficiency, thereby driving sales even further. According to statistics on robot sales worldwide, in 2018, a record high of 422,000 robotics units was sold worldwide, only for that figure to decrease slightly in 2019. However, according to IFR, by the end of 2020 and beyond, annual sales shoot up as we anticipate increased sales of robotics units, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

17. The global market size of robots in the healthcare sector will be worth $3.28 billion by the end of 2025.

(Source: Globe News Wire)

The industry was predicted to grow at a CAGR of 2.8% between 2019 and 2025. Healthcare is one of the sectors where robotic usage has found success in recent times, especially cobots. Surgery-assisted robots enable doctors to perform complex operations with more precision, speed, flexibility, and control. 

Robotics in Healthcare

In what ways exactly have robots contributed to healthcare? 

If this question happens to bother you, worry no more. The following stats expound on the topic.

18. The global healthcare industry is set to reach over $4,984.210 in 2026.

(Source: Globe NewsWire)

This is a 12.21% CAGR rate. This does not come as a surprise because medical robots have helped save more lives. Complicated surgeries performed by robots have a higher success rate than those performed by humans. 

To this end, government and private entities have increased their investments in the sector, veering more towards the use of technology (read robots).

19. The bear-shaped robots used in some hospitals as an interactive body assistant tool can move patients in and out of their sickbed up to 40 times daily.

(Source: Hospitalnews.com)

According to statistics on robotics innovation in healthcare, this is one clear example of how robots can be useful in healthcare centers worldwide. They take away menial jobs such as the movement of patients from one destination to another, a task often performed by nurses.

20. It takes about a minute for the "Veebot robot" to draw blood from the vein of a patient.

(Source: Hospitalnews.com)

The Veebot robot was designed specifically for the blood drawing process - it can correctly identify the best vein to target with an accuracy of 83%, better than any human. Isn’t that a relief?

21. The Xenex robot can reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAI) by 70%.

(Source: Hospitalnews.com)

In America, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that 1 in every 25 hospital patients will go down with an HAI, and 1 in every 9 of them will die. What’s more, reports indicate that these HAIs cost the United States healthcare sector a total of $30 billion yearly. 

However, according to statistics on robotics in the healthcare industry, with the Xenex robot, healthcare centers can significantly reduce the devastating effect of these HAIs. The Xenex robot's purpose is to cause cellular damage to microorganisms and not humans. It achieves this through the use of high-intensity ultraviolet (UV) light in disinfecting any available space.

Robots in Agriculture

Agriculture, which is a labor-intensive job, is slowly becoming an automated process. It owes the attainment of this feat to robots. In this section, we will be discussing how robots have influenced the agriculture industry worldwide. 

22. The global agricultural robotics market size could rise to $20.6 billion in 2025.

(Source: Statista)

According to facts about robots in agriculture, in 2020, this figure is set at $7.4 billion and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 22.8% up until 2025. The major driving factor is the rising demand for automation of repeated processes and the growing shortage of human labor on farms. 

With the help of robots, repetitive processes such as weed control, harvesting, picking, sorting, packing, seeding, spraying, thinning, and pruning can be carried out effectively without human assistance. 

23. The agricultural drones market will reach $6.2 billion in 2024.

(Source: PR News Wire) 

Drone robots or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have one of the most significant market shares in the agricultural robotics industry worldwide. This is partly due to their increased usage in recent times, and their inexpensive methods of carrying out field analysis of livestock farms, with small and medium industrial farms. 

In 2018, the agricultural drones industry had a market value of $1.5 billion, which was predicted to grow at a CAGR of 25.0% between 2019 and 2024.

Robots in the Manufacturing industry

Since the creation of the first industrial robot in 1937, the robotics industry has become a crucial part of the manufacturing process worldwide. 

The following stats will expound on how robots have influenced the manufacturing industry.

24. The global industrial robotics market will rise to $59.9 billion by 2026.

(Source: Fortune Business Insight) 

According to robotics industry statistics, in 2018, the industry was worth $18.8 billion and was predicted to grow at a CAGR of 15.7%. The Asia Pacific represents the largest market for industrial robots in 2018, with $6.5 billion generated out of the total $18.8 billion. North America was the second-largest market in 2018, with a market value of $5.0 billion. 

Experts believe both The Asia Pacific and North America will maintain their status as the highest shareholders of the industrial robotics industry in 2022.

25. As of Q2 2022, there are an average of 228 robots per 10,000 workers in the US.

(Source: Zippia) 

According to robotics industry statistics for 2022, the number is expected to grow in the coming years.

Robots in Military

According to statistics on robots used in the military, robots have been a core part of military strategies worldwide, even in times when the sales of robotic units experienced a decline in civilian society. 

The following statistics will throw light on how robots have empowered the military industry.

26. Experts expect the global spending on military robotics to reach $16.5 billion in 2025.

(Source: Statista)

In 2017, worldwide spending on military robotics was just $7.5 billion. According to statistics on future military robots, the US alone is predicted to spend up to $1 billion in the coming years on military robotics. This follows as several contracts are already being awarded to tech giants and robot building companies.

27. The military robot market size will hit $30.8 billion by 2022.

(Source: Markets and Markets)

Back in 2017, the market was worth $16.7 billion. It rose to $17.34 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 12.92% between 2020 and 2022.

28. The robotics industry already employes about 150,000 people worldwide in engineering and assembly jobs.

(Source: NY Times)

To some, having robots in the workplace stands as a threat to their jobs. However, research has shown that this is not the case. As it turns out, military robots of the future are being designed to augment and collaborate effectively with human workers, not to replace them. The presence of cobots in a production line increases productivity and accuracy, all at a reduced cost of operation.

Wrap Up

The mass adoption of robots is looming. 

If it is not already in your industry, chances that it would be sooner rather than later are very high. According to robotics industry statistics, the presence of robots in every industry brings about improved results and increased revenue. Countries like China, Japan, the US, and a few others are already going big on robotics as a core part of their economy, and many more will follow suit shortly.