The new World Robotics report shows robot installations in France were up by 13%, reaching 7,380 units in 2022 – the most successful year in the country’s history. France is the third largest robot market in the European Union following Italy and Germany.
“In France, annual installations have grown by 8% on average each year since 2017,” says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “The main customer is the automotive industry, with a share of 22% of the installations, but the metal industry almost closed the gap and also held a share of 22% in 2022.“
The operational stock of robots in the automotive industry accounted for 32% of the total stock in France and amounted to 17,597 units (+5%). The stock of robots in the metal and machinery industry accounted for 16% of the total stock and increased by 20% to 9,075 units in 2022. The stock of robots in the plastic and chemical products industry increased by 11% to 6,077 units.
Outlook
The French robotics market is expected to grow by a mid single-digit rate in 2023 and remain at about 7,000 installations per year from 2024 onwards. While the supply chain bottlenecks are slowly easing up, the costs of financing are rising and thus dampening the propensity to invest. The €100bn stimulus package for investment in smart factory equipment that came into effect in mid-2021 will support demand for industrial robots over the next few years, but there are currently just a few investments announced by the automotive industry up to 2025. It is instead general industry that will continue with the modernization and decarbonization of its production capacity.
