The global demand for robotics in transport and logistics has shown strong growth, with nearly 113,000 robots sold for these tasks in 2023, reflecting a 35% increase over the previous year, according to a report by the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association in partnership with the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
Wolfgang Hillinger, Chairman of the VDMA Mobile Robots Division, commented on the trend, noting that “about every other professional service robot was built for the application class transportation and logistics.” Hillinger emphasized that automation, particularly through robotics, is increasingly being integrated into the transport and logistics sectors.
Within the sales figures, mobile robots accounted for a significant portion, with nearly 80,300 units sold specifically for tasks such as transporting materials in both indoor and outdoor settings. These robots are commonly employed in warehouse environments and for loading and unloading tasks. Sales of mobile robots alone grew by 24% in 2023, with Asia-Pacific leading in production, supplying 83% of these units, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa at 10%, and the Americas at 7%.
Intralogistics robots operating in indoor environments without public traffic make up 71% of total sales, establishing this as the predominant application class for mobile robotics within the logistics sector.
The data for this report, drawn from the 2024 “World Robotics Service Robots” report, is based on sample data from 298 companies and does not represent an industry-wide extrapolation.
