- China leads rebound ahead of Americas and Europe - Operational stock will break 1 million-unit mark in 2021 - Robot sales plus 20% in 2020 The new World Robotics 2021 Industrial Robots report presented by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) shows a record of 943,000 industrial robots operating in China´s factories today – an increase of 21%. Sales of new robots grew strongly with about 168,000 units shipped in 2020. This is 20% more compared to 2019 and the highest value ever recorded for a single country. "The economies in North America, Asia and Europe did not experience their Covid-19 low point at the same time," says Milton Guerry, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Order intake and production in the Chinese manufacturing industry began surging in the second quarter of 2020. The North American economy started to recover in the second half of 2020, and Europe followed suit a little later." Chinese robot manufacturers mainly catered to the domestic market, where they held a market share of 27% in 2020 (45,000 units). This share has with some volatility been constant in the past 8 years. In 2020, installations of foreign robots - including units produced in China by non-Chinese suppliers - grew strongly by 24% to 123,000 units in 2020 with a total market share of 73%. Global robot installations are expected to rebound strongly and grow by 13% to 435,000 units in 2021, thus exceeding the record level achieved in 2018. Installations in North America are expected to increase by 17% to almost 43,000 units. Installations in Europe are expected to grow by 8% to almost 73,000 units. Robot installations in Asia are expected to exceed the 300,000-unit mark and add 15% to the previous year's result. Outlook The "boom after crisis" is expected to fade slightly in 2022 on a global scale. From 2021 to 2024, average annual growth rates in the medium single-digit range are expected. Please find the FULL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE for download here: https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/robot-sales-rise-again Video for download at: https://youtu.be/lgTvr-KJzIM Follow IFR on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-federation-of-robotics} Twitter [https://www.twitter.com/ifr_robots] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucidkfugg5xxipf_k2j4zrfa] About IFR www.ifr.org Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1671688/IFR_World_Robotics_2021.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1321334/International_Federation_of_Robotics_Logo.jpg IFR Press contact Carsten Heer phone +49 (0) 40 822 44 284 E-Mail: press@ifr.org Source: International Federation of Robotics