Robot installations in the U.S. showed strong growth of 10%.
A report issued on Sept. 26, by the International Federation of Robots, said that installation hit 39,576 units in 2022, almost matching the all-time peak level of 40,373 units achieved in 2018.
“The United States is the largest North American market and accounted for 71% of total installations in 2022,” says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics, in a statement. “On a global scale, the United States accounted for 7% of robot installations in 2022, placing the US third in the world following China and Japan.”
The US automotive industry was the main growth driver. The segment displayed surging installations by +47% (14,472 units). This represents a market share of 37%.
Installations in the metal and machinery industry declined by 7% to 3,900 units, after installations almost doubled in the previous year.
And installations in the electrical/electronics industry were up by 26% to 3,732 units.
The group noted that the 20232023 has shown ambiguous signs: labor shortages and inflation are still hampering the economy and the relatively high interest rates have dampened the general propensity to invest. The order intake of robotics in the U.S. was down in Q1 and Q2/2023, but the large order backlog enables production to remain at a high level this year.
"A reason to be optimistic is the massive political support for investment by the US government, based on the Chips and Science Act, the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act," the group said. "Triggered by these support measures, new production capacity is being created in the automotive industry, the electronics industry, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and in the metal industry. All these industries have a high demand for robots.
