Germany holds on to title as most automated industry in Europe

Frankfurt, Dec. 14 (BUS): Germany last year retained its position as the most automated economy in Europe, according to a new survey.

A report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) says the number of industrial robots per 10,000 employees has risen to a record high of 371 units in Germany.

Sweden ranked second with 289 units when it comes to the density of robots.

Globally, Germany is ranked fourth after South Korea, Singapore and Japan.

Milton Guerry, president of the IFR, explained that robot density is a “very important metric” for understanding the differences in levels of automation between economies.

Globally, average robot density has nearly doubled over the past five years, from 66 units in 2015 to 126 units per 10,000 employees.

China made a jump from 49 units in 2015 to 246 in 2020 due to a sharp increase in robot installations, putting China in ninth place globally after Taiwan (248 units) and the United States (255 units).

Germany accounted for 33 percent of total robotics installations in Europe in 2020, according to an earlier report by IFR, followed by Italy with 13 percent and France with 8 percent.

Overall, the number of robotics installations in Europe decreased by 8 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.

MI