Installations in Europe´s automotive industry jump 32% in 2023. Photo: ABBThe latest
World Robotics report published by the
International Federation of Robotics (IFR) recorded a new peak of 92,393 industrial robot installations in Europe in 2023 — an increase of 9% outpacing growth in both Asia and North America. The European Union countries accounted for 80% of the installations.
Asia suffered from the low demand of the electronics industry and the automotive industry — 382,073 units were installed in 2023, down 6%, although the region remains by far the world´s largest market. Meanwhile, installations in North America decreased by 2% to 47,730 units. Demand from the automotive industry fell by 6%. Across all industries, the result was still the third highest level of installations on record.
IFR president Marina Bill said: “In Europe, high industrial order backlogs were cleared in 2023 due to supply chain constraints. In addition, there were early investments due to the expiry of support programmes in 2023. All of this created a high base of demand for industrial robots in Europe.”
Germany, which belongs to the five major robot markets in the world, had a share of 31% of the total installations in Europe; a record-setting number of 28,355 robots (+7%) were newly installed in 2023. Italy followed with a market share of 11%, with installations reaching 10,412 units (down 9%), following a record level the previous year. The robot market in France ranked third in Europe with a market share of 7%; robot installations reached 6,386 units (down 13%) after a peak in 2022.
Growth was strongly driven by the automotive industry in Europe — installations hit 25,508 units — up 32%. Demand came from traditionally strong automotive countries such as Germany (9,190 units, +29%), and Spain (2,341 units +142%), as well as from smaller markets — robot installations in Slovakia, for example, reached a new high with 1,635 units installed. This was an increase of 61% and four-times more than in 2021 in the automotive sector. Installations in Europe’s metal and machinery industry reached 18,737 units. This was down 1%, but the second-best result recorded since 2018. The electrical and electronics industry recorded 6,036 units, an increase of 8%.
The stock of operational robots in Europe has grown by an average of 7% per year since 2018. There was a total of 777,596 units in operation on the factory floors. However, robot installations in Europe are expected to fall significantly this year due to a range of factors including the war in Ukraine, tight monetary policy and the relative weakness of the European automotive industry compared to China’s which are all dampening investment.
On the other hand, there is still strong political support for investment in Industry 4.0, plus the transition to carbon neutrality and the regionalisation of supply chains, are providing further impetus. The emerging low-cost robotics segment is targeting new customer segments that have not yet used robots. Installations in Europe are expected to increase again from 2025.