According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the total global stock of industrial robots reached 3.477 million in 2021, an increase of 15% from 2020, and over 2.3 million more than in 2011. In their annual “World Robotics Report 2022”, they expect the annual installation of industrial robots to continue at a rapid pace.
The chart below shows that the total global stock of industrial robots is outnumbering the human labour force of many OECD-countries (measured as the total number of employed persons). If current trends continue, we could expect the global robot “workforce” to surpass even more countries in the future.