Jun 17, 2019 — Experts at the IFR CEO Roundtable held in Chicago on April 8 debated the question of who will win the race on artificial intelligence and robotics.
May 13, 2019 — Growth in robot sales in the US 2018 outstripped IFR predictions and, combined with continued growth in Europe, drove record annual industrial robot sales of 384,000.
Apr 04, 2019 — Slowing production and sales of cars in China have led to speculation over knock-on effects on China’s booming robot industry. Strong growth in robot adoption in other manufacturing sectors will compensate, says the Chinese Robot Industry Alliance(CRIA).
Feb 13, 2019 — R15.08, a new U.S. standard for industrial mobile robot safety due in 2019, addresses new capabilities of industrial robots and mobile platforms.
Jan 24, 2019 — Following extensive consultation with members, the International Federation of Robotics has published a definition of a collaborative industrial robot that will used as the basis for gathering and publishing statistics on this emerging category.
The Japanese robot industry – the past and the future
Dec 17, 2018 — According to World Robotics - Industrial Robot Report 2018, recently published by the IFR, Japan is the world’s leading supplier of industrial robots. Japanese industrial robot manufacturers delivered just over half (almost 55%) of industrial robots supplied in 2017 – 39% more than in 2016.
Nov 22, 2018 — Sales in robot systems for logistics more than doubled to 69,000 in 2017 compared with 26,300 in 2016, accounting for US $2.4 billion in sales – an increase of 138% over 2016. Logistics systems accounted for 63% of the number of units sold and 36% of the total sales value of professional service robots in 2017.
Nov 07, 2018 — The electrical and electronics (E&E) industry is a key driver of a 30% growth in sales of industrial robots in 2017. E&E sectors accounted for 32% of robot sales, only 1 percentage point behind sales to the automotive industry which so far has been the main driver of robot adoption. We look at the reasons for the rapid uptake of automation in the E&E sector.
Events
International Robot Safety Conference
November 03- November 05, 2025
ISR Asia 2025
November 05- November 06, 2025
58th International Symposium on Robotics
RobotWorld 2025
November 05- November 08, 2025
20th Anniversary in Seoul
iREX 2025
December 03- December 06, 2025
International Robot Exhibition
Trade shows for State-of-the-art robots and robot-related technology, and component technologies
Automate 2026
June 22- June 25, 2026
The latest in robotics, machine vision, AI, motion control, and more
World Robotics - Industrial Robots: Global Robot Demand in Factories Doubles Over 10 Years
The new World Robotics 2025 statistics on industrial robots showed 542,000 robots installed in 2024 - more than double the number 10 years ago. Annual installations topped 500,000 units for the fourth straight year. Asia accounted for 74% of new deployments in 2024, compared with 16% in Europe and 9% in the Americas.
World Robotics - Service Robots See Global Growth Boom
In 2024, worldwide sales of professional service robots grew by 9%, medical robots by 91%, and service robots for consumer use by 11%. More than 199,000 units for professional service robots and close to 16,700 units of medical robots sold were registered by the IFR Statistical Department.
The IFR Newsletter - published quarterly - informs about sector relevant news - press releases, in-depth blogs, positioning papers and case studies on robot use. In addition, we inform about upcoming events, and new IFR members. Each newsletter highlights a report by the current IFR president. Please register for an automatic supply.
The General Secretariat is responsible for the daily management of IFR and the coordination of all major activities, events and collaboration. The General Secretariat handles all questions regarding IFR membership.