International Federation of RoboticsPlus 1.7 million industrial robots by 2020
The global stock of industrial robots will increase from around 1.83 million units in 2016 to over 3 million units in 2020, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) in its recently published World Robotics Report 2017.
© IFR
South Korea is the world's second largest market. Due to high investments by the electrical and electronics industry, annual sales of robots increased significantly. Around 41,400 units were sold in 2016. This is an increase of 8% compared to 2015. South Korea has the highest robot density in the world: around 630 robots per 10,000 employees were installed in the manufacturing industry in 2016. South Korea is also the market leader in the production of LCD and memory chips.