International Federation of Robotics
10.7% more robots in the US car industry
The US automotive industry is investing more heavily in robotics and automation: the number of installations rose to a total of 13,700 units in 2024 - an increase of 10.7 %. This is according to preliminary results from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
"The automotive industry in the USA is one of the most advanced production locations: in terms of robot density, i.e. the ratio of robots to factory workers, the USA is in fifth place worldwide, on a par with Japan and Germany and ahead of China," says Takayuki Ito, President of the IFR. "This is a major modernization success. However, in other key areas of manufacturing automation, the United States lags behind its competitors."
Robots mostly from abroad
Most industrial robots in the US are imported from overseas - only a few manufacturers produce in the United States. Globally, 70% of installed units come from the four manufacturing countries: Japan, China, Germany and South Korea. Within this group, Chinese manufacturers are the most dynamic. Within five years (2019 to 2023), manufacturers from China have managed to more than triple the number of units produced in their huge domestic market. This puts them in second place worldwide behind Japan in terms of production capacity. China's success is based on a national robotics strategy. Between 2021 and 2023, the manufacturing industry in China installed around 280,000 units per year. By comparison, the United States installed a total of 34,300 industrial robots in 2024.
Robot markets China and USA
In China, robotics and automation are now reaching all levels of production. This is reflected in the high robot density of 470 robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry - the third-highest rate worldwide in 2023. China has even surpassed Germany and Japan. With a robot density of 295 robots per 10,000 employees, the United States is only the tenth most automated manufacturing country in the world. The country's automation is heavily concentrated in the automotive sector: around 40% of all new industrial robot installations in 2024 will be in the automotive industry - followed by the metal and mechanical engineering industry with 3,800 units and an 11% market share. The US electrical and electronics industry has a market share of 9% with 2,900 installed units.
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