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Data

Industrial robots in operation per 1,000 employees

What you should know about this indicator

  • Industrial robots are machines used in factories to automate tasks like welding, assembly, and packaging.
  • They are defined as automatically controlled, reprogrammable, and multipurpose machines that can move in three or more directions.
  • Reprogrammable means their functions can be changed through software without altering their physical parts.
  • Multipurpose means they can be adapted for different tasks with mechanical changes.
  • Robots are becoming easier to install and more flexible, which means even small production runs can be automated.
  • Companies use robots to improve product quality, increase speed, reduce waste, and cut costs.

How is this data described by its producer?

Robot density is the number of operational industrial robots relative to the number of employees. It can cover the whole manufacturing industry or just specific industrial branches. The number of employees serves as a measure of economic size, so the quotient of operational stock over employees puts the operational stock on a uniform base.

Industrial robots in operation per 1,000 employees
Number of industrial robots in operation per 1,000 employees in the manufacturing industry. Industrial robots are automated, reprogrammable machines that can move in three or more directions and perform a variety of tasks in industrial settings.
Source
International Federation of Robotics – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
April 10, 2026
Date range
2023–2024
Unit
robots per 1,000 employees

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

International Federation of Robotics – Robot Density

Number of multipurpose industrial robots per 10,000 persons employed in the manufacturing industry.

Robot density data combines operational stock data from IFR and national robot associations with labor market data from various sources including OECD, ILO, Eurostat, and national statistics offices.

Retrieved on
April 10, 2026
Retrieved from
https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/robot-density-surges-in-europe-asia-and-americas
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
International Federation of Robotics (2025). Robot density in the manufacturing industry.

Number of multipurpose industrial robots per 10,000 persons employed in the manufacturing industry.

Robot density data combines operational stock data from IFR and national robot associations with labor market data from various sources including OECD, ILO, Eurostat, and national statistics offices.

Retrieved on
April 10, 2026
Retrieved from
https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/robot-density-surges-in-europe-asia-and-americas
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
International Federation of Robotics (2025). Robot density in the manufacturing industry.

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All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Industrial robots in operation per 1,000 employees”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from International Federation of Robotics. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260416-131509/grapher/industrial-robots-in-operation-per-1000-employees.html [online resource] (archived on April 16, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

International Federation of Robotics – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

International Federation of Robotics – processed by Our World in Data. “Industrial robots in operation per 1,000 employees” [dataset]. International Federation of Robotics, “Robot Density” [original data]. Retrieved April 16, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260416-131509/grapher/industrial-robots-in-operation-per-1000-employees.html (archived on April 16, 2026).

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