Humanoid robot sales tally hit 7,000 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.

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.