The industrial robot industry recorded 5.1 per cent growth in 2025, following a 2 per cent contraction in 2024, according to Interact Analysis. The market is now forecast to grow steadily to 2030, at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent, rising from 549,555 units in 2025 to 761,303 units in 2030.

The latest industrial robots report from the market intelligence specialist suggests that improving market sentiment, reshoring efforts in the US, and strong demand from the semiconductor and electronics sectors are among the main drivers of growth.

Material handling and assembly are expected to be the key applications driving expansion, with 2025-30 compound annual growth rates of 7.0 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively, as demand rises for efficient logistics and precise manufacturing-line assembly.

Strong APAC demand, weak automotive sector constrain EMEA growth

Analysts project that APAC will record the strongest shipment growth among major regions, with an average annual growth rate of 7.1 per cent from 2025-30. This compares with 6.2 per cent for the Americas and 4.7 per cent for EMEA.

Global shipment growth will be driven by sectors such as logistics, new energy and semiconductors. However, a weak automotive sector has weighed on industrial robot growth in EMEA. Interact Analysis analysts suggest this reflects poor investment due to high interest rates in the region, resulting in fewer new automation projects.

This has contributed to a 4.9 per cent contraction in EMEA shipments in 2025 and affected sales of high-end welding and heavy-payload robots. Despite this, automotive will remain the largest sector for industrial robots, with global shipments increasing from 171,556 units in 2025 to 223,864 units in 2030.

At a country level, India is expected to see the highest growth, at 12.5 per cent over the forecast period. In contrast, Germany is projected to achieve a compound growth rate of 3.7 per cent from 2025-30 and is predicted to record a 0.3 per cent contraction in industrial robot shipments in 2026.

Samantha Mou, Senior Analyst at Interact Analysis, says, “Continued growth is expected in 2026, supported by improving market sentiment, reshoring and automation demand in the US, and strong demand in the semiconductor and electronics sectors. Over the next five years, the market is projected to grow steadily, driven by robot adoption across more manufacturing processes and emerging industries.

“Revenue growth is expected to lag behind unit growth due to competition and declining average prices. However, price erosion is anticipated to slow in 2026 as robot manufacturers’ cost pressures increase amid rising oil prices.”

Collaborative robots remain the fastest-growing segment

While articulated robots will remain the largest robotics segment during the forecast period, their growth will be outpaced by several other robot types. Interact Analysis projects collaborative robots to be the fastest-growing segment, with an average annual shipment growth rate of 17.4 per cent between 2025 and 2030, compared with 5.0 per cent for articulated robots.

SCARA robots are also projected to outpace articulated robots, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.9 per cent between 2025 and 2030, driven by robust demand from the electronics and semiconductor industries.