Process Innovation
01/27/2025 | Digital Innovation
The global use of industrial robotics has increased by 10 per cent this year with an incredible 281,585 units currently in operation. Annual installations exceeded half a million for the third year running, with 70 per cent being installed in Asia, way ahead of Europe’s 17 per cent and 10 per cent in the Americas.
All this means China remains by far the world’s largest market. The 276,288 industrial robots installed in 2023 alone represent 51 per cent of all installations. Chinese manufacturers’ share in the domestic market has grown massively since 2022, reaching 47 per cent last year. The operational stock was just short of 1.8 million units in 2023, and demand is expected to accelerate this Autumn. Figures were released as part of the World Robotics Report by the Frankfurt-based International Federation of Robotics. Its President Marina Bill said the “statistics show an all-time high in the number of industrial robots automating production around the world.”
She went on to say: “The annual installation figure of 541,302 units in 2023 is the second highest in history. It is only two per cent lower than the record of 552,946 units installed in 2022.”
This development is, of course, fully in line with the Beijing government's plans to use robots as an engine for growth, as announced by China’s Central Committee at the Third Plenum in July. The electronics industry has been the main customer of industrial robots. Bill added: “China has been investing heavily in modern production facilities for more than a decade: Today, the country is the world's largest market for robotics. Annual installations rank first in the world ahead of Japan and the USA.”
This comes as no surprise. Two years ago, the Chinese government identified industrial robots as crucial to the country’s economic strategy, intending that, aside from being a major importer, the country will be a key source of global robotics innovation by 2025.
The Washington-based think-tank the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, estimates that China itself currently has 12 and half times more robots in its workforce than previously predicted, something it sees it as an indication that workers are being replaced by robots at the fastest rate anywhere in the world. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information has outlined ambitious plans to establish up to five robotics industry zones and double the intensity of manufacturing in order to develop robots able to work in 52 industries, ranging from traditional areas such as automotive through to new ones such as health and medicine. Research analyst Daisy Zhang, part of the Australian FSO Macquarie’s Asia Equity Research team, says that while some of the impetus comes form a desire to break the current reliance on expensive imports by building domestic capability, there are deeper economic factors at play.
“Chinas population is growing older, which means there will be fewer workers available to perform those tasks that need to be done to keep the economy going,” she said. Robots will be needed as labour supplementation, stepping in to fill that gap while improving efficiencies in the labour market.
“China is placing a lot of emphasis on smart manufacturing, and this is another key focus of the current Five-Year Plan. Many emerging technologies, such as new energy and lithium batteries, will require robotics.”
In many ways, the scale of this challenge will be unprecedented, given how rapidly China is ageing. The effects of longer life expectancy, increased wealth and the one-child policy mean that between 1970 and 2020 the country’s median age doubled form 19.2 to 38.4, still well below some developed countries such as Japan, Germany and Italy, but higher than both the United States and Australia.
Another fillip to the Asian tech market is the confirmation that Japan has emerged as the second largest global market for industrial robots. Despite a nine per cent fall, robot installations there reached 46,106 units in 2023. This followed two strong years, peaking at 50,435 units in 2022 – the second-best result after 2018 (55,240 units). Demand there is expected to remain stagnant this year but recover in 2025 and the following years to medium and upper single-digital rates.
After the US, the Republic of Korea, with 31,444 units in 2023, came fourth in the robot league table with India, thanks to its automotive industry, emerging as one of the fastest growing emerging regional economies. This is a country making great strides in its training of skilled workers to facilitate robot integration backed by a government which actively promotes innovation, alongside education and the sort of supportive environment needed to keep it competitive.
But many of the key innovators are right here in Singapore itself. From charging stations to robotics arms to orchestration systems – and even the sort of cleaning operations human are reluctant to do themselves – there is a thriving startup scene making great strides in the wider Asian markets and focused on specific areas of labour shortages.
From the likes of Lionsbot, which opened a new factory in the Kranji district in April backed by a $12 million investment and increased its production line to around five times previous capacity, tot the likes of Augmentus, Hand Plus, Roceso Technologies and Opsis Emotion, there has been a significant upsurge since around 2016 which shows no sign of slowing down just yet.
It's also why Singapore emerges as the second most automated country in terms of robot density, behind South Korea, and narrowly ahead of Germany.
And visitors this month need look no further than the airport for proof, especially if they land at Changi. For the past 18 months, two robots have been helping police patrol Terminal 4. Not that they can be missed. When fully extended they stand 7ft tall.
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