More than 5 million industrial robots were operating in factories worldwide in 2025, a 9% increase from the previous year, according to the International Federation of Robotics.

Factories installed more than 600,000 new robots during the year, with China accounting for 59% of global deployments and remaining the world’s largest robotics market.

The United States became the second-largest market, installing nearly 38,500 robots, while Japan fell to third place after installations declined by 19%.

The IFR expects global robot installations to increase another 9% in 2026 to about 655,000 units as manufacturers respond to labor shortages, supply-chain changes and advances in artificial intelligence and machine vision, IFR has reported.

The organization says industrial robotics is expected to continue expanding as robots become more capable, easier to program and economically viable for a wider range of manufacturing applications.