President’s Report by Marina Bill

World Robotics published and IFR meetings coming up

Dear Reader,

IFR just published its much-anticipated World Robotics 2024 report with the latest data on the global robotics market.

As expected by industry professionals, the statistics show an all-time high in the number of industrial robots automating production around the world, with an operational stock of almost 4.3 million units in 2023. The annual installation figure of 541 thousand units in 2023 is the second highest in history, only 2% lower than the record of 553 million units installed in 2022.

The decline in installations is pretty much dominated by the economic situation in China, where annual installations decreased by 5%, nevertheless representing 51% of global demand. Remarkably, the share of Chinese domestic suppliers rose significantly to 47% (up 11 percentage points compared to 2022).

Other remarkable findings include: The automotive industry reclaimed its position as the largest customer of industrial robots -despite a sideways movement - and installed 25% of the robots in 2023. At the same time, the electrical/electronics industry dropped to second place, as robot installations declined by 20% to 126 thousand units.

Europe was the only region with an increase in installations: up 9% to 92 thousand units, driven by a strong backlog and nearshoring projects.

India as one of the fastest growing emerging Asian economies made a big leap: robot installations increased by 59% to 8.5 thousand units , a new high, propelling the country to the seventh largest market in the world (up from 11th). Demand was driven by the automotive industry that more than doubled its installations within one year.

We will present further details and discuss the global robotics market dynamics and trends with a special focus on the impact on Europe, during the IFR Executive Roundtable at Robotheart at BiMu on 11 October 2024.

On 10 October, the Robot Suppliers' Committee meeting will focus on the global robotics trends for 2025, preparing IFR's annual outlook to be published at the beginning of next year. The General Assembly will decide on proposed changes to the IFR Constitution to make our organization future-proof and will (re-)elect part of the Executive Board. Additionally, the Executive Board will have the pleasure and honor of electing the new IFR President and Vice-President, as my two-year term will soon come to its end.

I hope to meet many of you in person witnessing the handover, enjoying the networking opportunities and discovering the latest trends at the event.

Best regards

Marina Bill