The European automotive industry continues to invest heavily in production automation: With a total of 23,000 industrial robots installed, the industry has achieved its second-best result in the last five years. This is according to preliminary results from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

“The automotive sector is the largest customer industry for robotics in Europe,” says Takayuki Ito, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “Automotive manufacturers in Europe installed around a third of all industrial robots over the year. With a total of 23,000 units in 2024, the automotive sector in Europe is well ahead of the approximately 19,200 units installed in North America.”

In a global comparison, automotive production in Europe is one of the most highly automated locations: six European countries rank among the top 10 in terms of robot density in 2023: Switzerland is in first place with a ratio of 3,876 robots to 10,000 factory workers. Slovenia is in third place (1,762 units), Germany in sixth (1,492 units), Austria in eighth (1,412 units), Finland in ninth (1,288 units) and the Benelux countries in tenth place with 1,132 units.

With the exception of Switzerland, all of these automation champions are also EU member states. The leading role of the EU-27 countries in Europe is not only evident in the automotive industry, but also with a total market share of 85% of all installations across all sectors. Germany is one of the five largest robot markets worldwide and accounts for around 30% of total installations in Europe. It is followed by Italy with around 10 percent and Spain with around 6 percent.

From 2019 to 2024, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of robots installed in Europe was +3%.