Global Service Robot Shipments Surge 24 Percent to 250,000 Units, IFR Report Shows

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) released its annual World Robotics 2026 Service Robots report on September 30, showing that global shipments of professional service robots increased 24 percent to nearly 250,000 units in 2025. The figures mark a continued shift toward commercial automation, with transportation and logistics remaining the largest application areas.

The report covers three segments. Professional service robots — those used in business contexts like delivery, inspection, and hospitality — drove the headline growth. Consumer service robots, including vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers, reached 34.2 million units sold, a 37 percent increase. Medical robotics saw 8,400 surgical robot units shipped, a 57 percent jump that made surgery the primary driver of growth in the medical category.

For the first time, the World Robotics report includes a dedicated chapter on humanoid robots, which IFR Service Robot Committee Chair Dr Werner Kraus described as the newest market in robotics. The inclusion reflects growing commercial interest in humanoid platforms from companies across Asia, Europe, and the United States, though the report cautions that the humanoid segment remains far smaller than established categories.

The data is based on a sample of 238 service robot suppliers and is not projected to the whole industry, a limitation the IFR notes explicitly. The numbers therefore represent a floor rather than a comprehensive market size. Still, the consistent double-digit growth across all three segments signals that the commercial robotics market is maturing beyond pilot deployments into sustained, revenue-generating scale across multiple industries.