Germany holds on to title as most automated industry in Europe
Germany retained its position as the most automated economy in Europe last year, according to a new survey.
The number of industrial robots per 10,000 employees rose to a record 371 units in Germany, the report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) said, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.
Sweden ranked second, with 289 units when it came to robot density.
On a global scale, Germany ranked fourth behind South Korea, Singapore and Japan.
Robot density is a "very important metric" to understand the differences in automation levels between economies, explained IFR president Milton Guerry.
Globally, average robot density has almost doubled within the last five years, from 66 units in 2015 to 126 units per 10,000 employees.
China made a leap from 49 units in 2015 to 246 in 2020 due to a sharp increase in robot installations, which puts China in ninth place worldwide after Taiwan (248 units) and the United States (255 units).
Germany had a share of 33 per cent of the total robot installations in Europe in 2020, according to an earlier report by the IFR, followed by Italy at 13 per cent and France with 8 percent.
Overall the number of robot installations in Europe was down by 8 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.
