The International Federation of Robotics, or IFR for short, expects a brief pause for breath in 2019, meaning that the robotics market will remain stable at the 2018 sales level, in which USD 16.5 billion was invested in robots. The experts do not expect average annual growth of 12% again until 2020 to 2022. The turnover of 16.5 billion dollars is calculated from the estimates of various national robot associations for their respective domestic markets and relates purely to robots. If software, peripheral devices and system technology are included, global sales are estimated to be around 50 billion US dollars.

The IFR published these figures in its World Robotics Report. According to the report, 422,000 units were delivered worldwide, an increase of 6 percent compared to 2017. "We saw dynamic development in 2018 with a new sales record, even though the main robot customers - the automotive and electronics industries - had a difficult year," says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics, on the occasion of the publication. "The trade conflict between the US and China brings uncertainty to the global economy - customers tend to postpone investments. It is therefore remarkable that the mark of 400,000 robot installations per year worldwide has been exceeded. The longer-term outlook shows that the continuing automation trend and further technical improvements will lead to double-digit growth - with an estimated 584,000 units in 2022."

China with investment decline

Although Asia is still the world's largest industrial robot market (+ 1%), investment declined in China and the Republic of Korea. In Japan, however, investments increased significantly. Europe is the second largest market, with growth of 14 percent. The increase in America amounted to 20 percent.

In total, 74% of global installations in 2018 were attributable to the five main markets of China, Japan, the USA, the Republic of Korea and Germany. Although around 154,000 units were installed in China, one percent fewer than in the previous year, the Middle Kingdom remains the world's largest industrial robot market, accounting for 36 percent of total installations. Chinese robot manufacturers were also able to increase their market share from 22% to 27%. This development is also due to Chinese policy, which promotes domestic robot manufacturers. As a result of the policy, but also due to the weakening automotive industry, installations by foreign robot suppliers, including units produced in China by non-Chinese suppliers, fell by 7% (around 9,000 units) to around 113,000 units.

Japan and USA with high growth

In Japan, robot sales rose by 21% to around 55,000 units in 2018 - the highest figure ever achieved in the country. On average, the market has grown by 17% per year since 2013. Japan is the world's leading manufacturer of industrial robots: 52% of global sales come from Japan.

With 40,300 newly installed units and year-on-year growth of 22%, the USA reached a record high for the eighth year in a row. The growth driver is the trend towards a higher degree of automation in production, which has been ongoing since 2010. In terms of annual robot installations, the USA has overtaken the Republic of Korea from third place, where robot installations fell by 5%. In Korea, the robot market is heavily dependent on the electronics industry, which had a difficult year. Since 2013, the Republic of Korea has recorded growth of 12%; 2018 is the first year of decline.

Number 1 in Europe and number 5 worldwide is Germany: the number of robots sold rose by 26% to 27,000 units in 2018. The main customer is the automotive industry.

Robot sales by sector

With a share of almost 30% of the total supply (2018), the automotive industry remains the world's largest user of robots. After a very strong year in 2017 with a 21% increase in installations, the level was only slightly increased by 2% in 2018. Investments in new automotive production capacities and modernization have boosted demand for robots. The use of new materials, the development of energy-efficient drive systems and strong competition in all major automotive markets led to investments. 79% of installations of industrial robots took place in five key markets: China (39,351 units), Japan (17,346 units), Germany (15,673 units), the USA (15,246 units) and the Republic of Korea (11,034 units). India, the fourth largest vehicle manufacturing country in the world according to OICA production statistics, has only installed just under 2,100 industrial robots in its automotive industry. Overall, however, India is growing by 39 percent.

The electrical and electronics industry was on the verge of replacing the automotive industry as the most important customer for industrial robots in 2017. However, global demand for electronic devices and components fell significantly in 2018. This industry is probably the most affected by the trade crisis between the US and China, as Asian countries are leaders in the production of electronic products and components. Robot installations in this industry fell by 14 percent from their peak of around 122,000 units in 2017 to 105,000 units in 2018. 79 percent of total installations in the electrical and electronics industry were installed in three countries with large production facilities: China (43 percent), Republic of Korea (19 percent), Japan (17 percent). Vietnam recorded a one-off increase in installations in 2017, driven by some large projects (7,080 units), but declined in 2018 (689 units).

The metal industry and mechanical engineering established themselves as the third-largest customer industry. In 2018, installations accounted for 10 percent of total demand. Both manufacturers of metal products (excluding automotive parts) and manufacturers of industrial machinery have invested heavily in robots in recent years. Installations rose to around 43,500 units in 2018. This is one percent less than in the record year of 2017 (44,191 units). The metal industry was the largest customer industry in Finland (44%), Sweden (42%), Switzerland (40%), Belgium (30%), Austria (27%), Italy (26%) and Denmark (21%).