Robotics market in North America sees historical double digit growth rate, reports IFR

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reports that the first quarter of 2022 has been the best ever for the North American robotics market.

Companies from Canada, the United States and Mexico ordered 11,595 industrial robots. This is 28 percent more than the first quarter of 2021. Revenue increased by 43 percent and reached a value of $664 million USD.

According to IFR, these results are aligned with a positive trend worldwide. Preliminary data for 2021 show, that 486,700 industrial robots have been installed globally (an increase of 27 percent year-on-year).

“A strong recovery of the international robotics markets is currently in progress: Worldwide installations of industrial robots in 2021 even exceed the record year 2018,” says Milton Guerry, president of IFR. “In North America, first quarter order volumes for both units and revenue were at all-time highs. Across industries, the post-COVID crisis boom creates double-digit growth over the same quarter of last year.”

The data shows that 47 percent of the robot orders in Nirth America in quarter one of 2022 were from car makers and manufacturers of components. The increase in orders were by 15 percent year-on-year.

IFR noted that several car manufacturers have announced investments to further equip their factories for new electric drive car models or to increase capacity for battery production. These major projects will continue to create demand for industrial robots in the next few years. Worldwide installations of industrial robots in the automotive sector reached 109,400 units in 2021 ( up 37 percent year-on-year).

Non-automotive sectors surpassed automotive

Non-automotive customers have ordered more robots than automotive customers. This is a continuing trend in recent times. Worldwide, the electrical and electronics industry is the strongest adopter with a record of 132,200 units installed in 2021. In North America, automotive customers orders in the first quarter of 2022 were 5,476 units, while non-automotive customers ordered 6,122 units in the same period. In seven out of the last nine quarters, orders from non-automotive customers surpassed orders from automotive customers.