Humanoid robot sales tally hit 7000 globally last year
AMSTERDAM, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Around 7,000 humanoid robots were sold worldwide last year for industrial and professional service use, figures compiled by the International Federation of Robotics showed.
Key takeaways
- The most recent coverage shows a rapid expansion of both hardware and software capabilities for humanoid robots.
- In September 2026 Boston Dynamics inaugurated the Robotics Metaplant Application Center at Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant America, where multiple Atlas units are being trained for complex manufacturing tasks.
- Around the same time, Chinese startup Spirit AI announced that its embodied‑AI “robot brain” could enable humanoid robots to follow verbal instructions for most general‑purpose tasks as early as next year, after a series of breakthroughs that now let its Moz1 robots operate across large spaces and execute continuous workflows.
- Reuters also reported that the International Federation of Robotics recorded sales of about 7,000 humanoid units in 2025—far fewer than the 90,000 projected for 2026 and the 1.2 million expected by 2030—highlighting the still‑nascent market.
- XPeng demonstrated its Iron humanoid robot walking autonomously off the assembly line immediately after being built, signalling a move toward volume production slated for 2027.
AMSTERDAM, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Around 7,000 humanoid robots were sold worldwide last year for industrial and professional service use, figures compiled by the International Federation of Robotics showed.
The relatively small number contrasts with forecasts for a boom in the coming years, particularly in China, the world's largest market for industrial robots, which last month showcased humanoid running and boxing at its robot games.
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To qualify as humanoid under the IFR's criteria, a robot must have a human-like appearance and operate autonomously in an environment designed for humans. Legs are not required. Bank of America Global Research estimates that 90,000 humanoid robots will be shipped this year and 1.2 million by 2030. The IFR's tally is based on supplier and national industry association data, and excludes consumer and military humanoid robots, while medical robots are classified separately.
Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Alexander Smith
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Bieller said that among humanoids sold in 2025, many were not doing productive work but were bought by research institutions or companies using them to generate data for improving AI models.
Carmakers, key early adopters, are running pilots with "single-digit or sometimes double-digit numbers of robots in their plants," Bieller said.
IFR has compiled robotics statistics for three decades, and has begun collecting humanoid data alongside its much larger industrial robot and service robot figures for the first time.
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