Source: IFR

As robots steadily debut in industries ranging from healthcare to human resources, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) released numbers illustrating how widespread the technology has become.

The IFR, a professional, non-profit organization that promotes the robotics industry, reported the average worldwide density for production automation robots is accelerating. According to the IFR’s 2017 World Robot Statistics, in 2016 there was an average of 74 robot units for every 10,000 employees - a jump from the 66 units reported back in 2015.

“Robot density is an excellent standard for comparison in order to take into account the differences in the automation degree of the manufacturing industry in various countries,” said Junji Tsuda, president of the IFR.

Broken down by average densities per region, the report listed, in descending order, the top 10 most automated countries in the world in 2016. According to the IFR, they are: South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, the U.S., Italy, Belgium and Taiwan.

Also of note, according to the IFR, is that Asia experienced the greatest growth in robot density during that period.

“As a result of the high volume of robot installations in Asia in recent years, the region has the highest growth rate. Between 2010 and 2016, the average annual growth rate of robot density in Asia was 9 percent, in the Americas 7 percent and in Europe 5 percent," added Tsuda.

For more on the report, go to the International Federation of Robotics.