The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) has published a study that shows the use of robots in factories has more than doubled in the last seven years. South Korea leads the list of countries in terms of robot use in manufacturing, with China set to overtake Germany and Japan in 2023.
The report notes that South Korea is the largest user of industrial robots (1,012 robots per 10,000 workers) and has grown by 5% annually since 2018. Singapore is next with 770 robots per 10,000 workers, followed by China with 470 robots per 10,000 workers.
According to IFR CEO Takayuki Ito, the density of robot use shows the degree of automation in global production and is an important indicator that allows us to compare the level of automation in production in different countries.
“China’s massive investment in automation technology has enabled it to achieve such a high robot density despite its huge manufacturing workforce of about 37 million people,” Ito said.
Germany and Japan, with 439 and 419 robots per 10,000 employees, ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, on the IFR list. The U.S. has 295 robots per 10,000 workers, ranking tenth on the IFR list. The global average robot density will reach 162 in 2023, more than double the 74 robots per 10,000 workers seven years ago.