Robots in Logistics Boom Worldwide – VDMA Reports

Double-digit growth in robot sales

The demand for robots for transport and logistics is increasing: Almost 113,000 robots were sold for transport and logistics tasks in 2023 - up 35%. These results are published by VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association in cooperation with the IFR.


"About every other professional service robot was built for the application class transportation and logistics," says Wolfgang Hillinger, Chairman of the VDMA Mobile Robots Division of the Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association. "The annual report clearly shows that automation or partial automation with robotics in transport and logistics is steadily increasing."

Mobile robots for intralogistics

Of the units sold, almost 80,300 are in the mobile robot segment, which transport materials indoors and outdoors and are used in production supply or warehouses, for example, as well as robots for loading and unloading lorries or pallets. Here alone, sales rose by 24% in 2023. Most mobile devices came from Asia-Pacific (around 83%), followed by Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (around 10%) and North and South America (around 7%).

Indoor environments

Transportation in indoor environments without public traffic qualify with 71% of all units sold as the most important application class within the segment.

Background to the "World Robotics" annual report

The market data in the World Robotics Service Robots Report is sample data. The data is not extrapolated to the entire industry. All figures from the World Robotics Service Robots 2024 annual report are based on a sample of 298 companies.

The full annual report "World Robotics - Service Robots" contains - in addition to the data - a detailed analysis of service robotics in the respective application classes in collaboration with Fraunhofer IPA, a market assessment, expert interviews and a complete list of all service robot manufacturers known to the International Federation of Robotics: https://ifr.org/wr-service-robots.

About VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association

The VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association represents more than 250 European and German member companies: https://www.vdma.org/home

Featured Product

REIKU's Cable Saver™ - The Most Versatile Modular Robotic Cable Management Solution

REIKU's Cable Saver™ - The Most Versatile Modular Robotic Cable Management Solution

REIKU's Cable Saver™ Solution eliminates downtime, loss of revenue, expensive cable and hose replacement costs, maintenance labor costs. It's available in three sizes 36, 52 and 70 mm. All of the robots cables and hoses are protected when routed through the Cable Saver™ corrugated tubing.The Cable Saver™ uses a spring retraction system housed inside the Energy Tube™ to keep this service loop out of harms way in safe location at the rear of the Robot when not required. The Cable Saver™ is a COMPLETE solution for any make or model of robot. It installs quickly-on either side of the robot and has been tested to resist over 15 million repetitive cycles. REIKU is committed to providing the most modular, effective options for ensuring your robotic components operate without downtime due to cable management. www.CableSaver.com