"Robots offer high levels of precision and their connectivity will play a key role in new digital manufacturing environments,” says Joe Gemma, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “Increasing availability enables more and more manufacturers from companies of all sizes to automate.”
Industrial robots in operation
In terms of units, it is estimated that by 2020 the worldwide stock of operational industrial robots will increase from about 1,828,000 units at the end of 2016 to 3,053,000 units. This represents an average annual growth rate of 14 percent between 2018 and 2020. In Australasia the operational stock of robots is estimated to increase by 16 percent in 2017, by 9 percent in the Americas and by 7 percent in Europe. Since 2016, the largest number of industrial robots in operation has been in China. In 2020, this will amount to about 950,300 units, considerably more than in Europe (611,700 units). The Japanese robot stock will slightly increase in the period between 2018 and 2020. About 1.9 million robots will be in operation across Asia in 2020. This is almost equal to the global stock of robots in 2016.
Please find the full press release here: http://tinyurl.com/y8hjbqwu
Please find the IFR press conference “World Robotics 2017” from September 27th here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myy4TQokRbA
About IFR
The International Federation of Robotics: www.ifr.org