The era of humanoid robots has begun: 7,000 robots were sold globally last year, and that will increase nearly 13 times this year

Image source: UBTech Robotics

From the industry association’s perspective, robots that look similar to humans and can operate autonomously in environments originally inhabited by humans can be considered humanoid robots. The presence of legs is not a critical criterion: in principle they can be replaced by wheelbase. This market segment is still in its infancy, as evidenced by data on the size of the industrial robot fleet. As of 2024, the number of industrial robots in operation will exceed 4.66 million units. In 2024, there will be 542,076 industrial robots in operation alone. In addition, they are equipped with approximately 199,000 service robots, which are used in the transportation department, cleaning areas and premises, and interacting with visitors of various institutions. The IFR will release 2025 industrial robot data later this week.

According to federation representatives, many humanoid robots sold last year still do not do any useful work, but were purchased for training, experimentation and research. Car manufacturers are the main operators at this stage of the development of the humanoid robot market, most often placing a few or dozens of such robots in a large enterprise, so they have no impact on the overall automation picture. The IFR has been counting the industrial robot market for three decades, but will include humanoid robots for the first time in 2025.