Germany's share of the European robot population is 33%. This means that there are around three times as many industrial robots in use in the factories of the German economy as in Italy (78,200 units), around five times as many as in France (44,800 units) and around ten times as many as in Great Britain (23,000 units).

In a global comparison, Germany ranks fifth after China, Japan, Korea and the USA. This also applies to annual sales in 2020. The German economy has been moving here for many years (2014 - 2017) at the very high level of around 20,000 units per year.

Current situation and outlook

93 percent of German robotics and automation specialists currently confirm that there are restrictions due to problems in the supply chains. Almost every second thinks the problems are serious. Almost all German robotics and automation specialists report bottlenecks in the delivery of electronic components and computer chips. A good 80 percent see delivery bottlenecks in metal products, around 60 percent in plastics.

According to the latest information from the federal government, GDP in Germany will only grow by 2.6% in 2021 and by 4% in 2022 due to the scarcity of some raw materials and rising energy prices.