Global Boom in Service Robots

"We are seeing strong demand for service robots in a whole range of different application areas," says Takayuki Ito, President of IFR. "To make automation projects possible without large initial investments, more and more companies are deciding not to buy the robot outright, but to finance it via subscriptions or rental agreements. The Robot-as-a-Service fleet - RaaS for short - has grown by an impressive 31% as a result."

Top areas of application for professional service robots

The transportation and logistics application area is the leader in terms of sales figures in 2024 with 102,900 units - an increase of 14% compared to the previous year - and thus has a market share of over 50% of professional service robots. These are mainly mobile robots for the transportation and handling of goods. While traditional sales remain the most important sales channel, RaaS offerings enjoyed increasing popularity with a growth rate of 42% in 2024. Indoor transportation without public transport is the most important application class within this segment.

Robots in the hotel and catering industry are in second place with more than 42,000 units. The segment recorded a decline of 11% in 2024. These robots are mainly used as mobile assistants for information and telepresence in public spaces. The service robots take over smaller services at the reception desk or are intended to promote sales in shopping centers or individual stores. The sector is developing rapidly - for example, new areas of application have emerged with the preparation of food and drinks.

The demand for professional cleaning robots is in third place with an increase of 34% to more than 25,000 robots sold. The main application is the cleaning of floors, for example in airports, supermarkets and shopping centers.

Sales of service robots in the agricultural sector came in fourth place, falling slightly by 6% with almost 19,500 units sold. The decline is mainly attributable to the cultivation and milking sectors.

The search and rescue robots and security robots application group ranks fifth with a total of 3,100 units in 2024. This corresponds to an increase of 19%. Three out of four robots in this segment are used for security services.

The medical robots division

The World Robotics 2025 yearbook lists medical robots as the third category alongside service robots and industrial robots, thus following the requirements of the ISO standard: sales of medical robots increased significantly by 91% to around 16,700 units in 2024. Sales of rehabilitation and non-invasive therapy robots rose by 106%. Demand for surgical robots grew by 41% and sales of robots for diagnostics and medical laboratory analysis by 610%.

Robots for private use

Service robots for private use are produced for a mass market and recorded solid growth of 11% in 2024 with almost 20 million units sold. By far the largest group in this segment are robots for private households (floor cleaning, lawn mowing, etc.). Suppliers from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region in particular benefited from rising demand with growth rates of 16% each. Sales in America fell slightly by 1% due to market losses for robot vacuum cleaners.

Note: The market data in the World Robotics Service Robots report is sample data. The data is not extrapolated to the entire industry. The composition of the sample varies each year. All figures from the World Robotics Service Robots 2025 annual report are based on a sample of 294 companies.