Annual industrial robot shipments will reach more than 760k 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 in the semiconductor and electronics sectors are among the primary reasons for growth.

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

Analysts project APAC will experience the strongest shipment growth across the major regions, with an average annual growth rate of 7.1% from 2025-30. This compares with 6.2% for the Americas and 4.7% for EMEA.

Growth in global shipments will be driven by sectors such as logistics, new energy and semiconductors, while a weak automotive sector has served as a drag on industrial robot growth in the EMEA region. Interact Analysis analysts suggest this is a result of poor investment due to high interest rates in the region, leading to fewer new automation projects. This has contributed to EMEA shipments contracting by 4.9% in 2025 and has impacted 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 shipped in 2025 to 223,864 in 2030.

On a more granular level, India will see the highest levels of growth, at 12.5% over the forecast period. In contrast, Germany will achieve a compound growth rate of just 3.7% from 2025-2030 and is predicted to see a contraction in industrial robot shipments of -0.3% 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 represent fastest growing segment

While articulated robots will remain the largest robotics segment for the duration of the forecast period, its growth will be outpaced by several other robot types. Interact Analysis projects that collaborative robots will be the fastest growing segment, with an average annual shipment growth rate of 17.4% between 2025 and 2030, compared with just 5.0% for articulated robots.

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