The global market value of industrial robot installations has reached an all-time high of $16.5 billion.
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) stated that technological innovations, market forces, and new business fields will drive future demand.
The IFR also published its five global robotics trends for 2025. Here’s what they said:

Artificial Intelligence: Physical, Analytical, and Generative
The trend towards artificial intelligence (AI) in robotics is increasing. By using various AI technologies, robotics can perform a wide range of tasks more efficiently:
Analytical AI enables robots to process and analyze large amounts of data collected by their sensors. This helps manage variability and unpredictability in external environments, in high-level, low-volume productions, and in public environments. For example, robots equipped with vision systems can analyze past tasks to identify patterns and optimize their operations for greater accuracy and speed.
Robot and chip manufacturers are recently investing in developing dedicated hardware and software that simulate real-world environments. This so-called physical AI allows robots to train in virtual environments and operate based on experience rather than programming.
These generative AI projects aim to create a “ChatGPT moment” for physical AI. This AI-driven robotic simulation technology will advance in traditional industrial environments and service robotics applications.

Humanoids
Humanoid-shaped robots have received a lot of media attention. The idea is that robots will become general-purpose tools that can load a dishwasher on their own and work on an assembly line elsewhere. Startups are working on these general-purpose humanoid robots.
However, industrial manufacturers are focusing on humanoids that perform single-purpose tasks. Most of these projects are taking place in the automotive industry, which has played a key role in pioneering robot applications throughout industrial robotics history, as well as in the storage sector.
However, whether humanoid robots can represent an economically viable and scalable business model for industrial applications, especially compared to existing automation solutions, remains to be seen. Nonetheless, there are many applications that could potentially benefit from the humanoid form, offering market potential for robotics, such as logistics and warehousing.

Sustainability and Energy Efficiency
Meeting the UN’s environmental sustainability goals and corresponding regulations worldwide is becoming an important requirement for suppliers’ whitelist inclusion. Robots play a key role in helping manufacturers achieve these goals.
Overall, their ability to perform tasks with high precision reduces material waste and improves the product-to-input ratio of a manufacturing process. These automated systems ensure consistent quality, which is essential for products designed to have long lifespans and minimal maintenance.
In the production of green energy technologies, such as solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, or recycling equipment, robots are essential for achieving cost-effective production. They allow manufacturers to quickly scale production to meet growing demand without compromising quality or sustainability.
At the same time, robotics technology continues to improve to make robots more energy-efficient. For example, the lightweight construction of moving robot components reduces energy consumption. Different sleep mode levels place hardware in an energy-saving parking position. Advances in gripper technology use bionics to achieve high gripping force with almost zero energy consumption.

Robots in New Business Fields
The manufacturing industry still has significant potential for robotic automation. Most manufacturing companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The adoption of industrial robots by SMEs is still hindered by high initial investment and high total cost of ownership. Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) business models allow companies to benefit from robotic automation without fixed capital. RaaS providers specializing in specific industries or applications can quickly offer sophisticated solutions. Additionally, low-cost robotics provides options for potential customers who find high-performance robots too large for their needs. Many applications have low requirements in terms of precision, load, and lifespan. Low-cost robotics targets this new “good enough” segment.
Among the new interesting customer segments, besides manufacturing, are construction, laboratory automation, and warehousing. Demand across industries is being driven by recent crises that have raised political awareness about national production capacity in strategically important sectors. Automation enables manufacturers to relocate production without sacrificing cost efficiency.

Robots Solve Labor Shortages
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the global manufacturing sector continues to suffer from labor shortages. One of the main drivers is demographic change, which is already affecting labor markets in major economies such as the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, and Germany. Although the impact varies from country to country, the cumulative effect on the supply chain is a concern almost everywhere.
The use of robotics significantly reduces the impact of labor shortages in manufacturing. By automating dirty, dull, dangerous, or delicate tasks, human workers can focus on more interesting and higher-value tasks. Robots perform tedious tasks like visual quality inspection, hazardous painting, or heavy lifting. Technological innovations in robotics, such as ease of use, collaborative robots, or mobile manipulators, help fill gaps whenever and wherever necessary.

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The IFR also published its five global robotics trends for 2025. Here’s what they said