Germany’s robotics and automation business is getting ready for an additional powerful yr. The VDMA Robotics + Automation Association, a German commerce group, expects income to fall 5% in 2026 to about €14.1 billion. That follows a 7% decline in 2025, marking the second straight yr of contraction for one of many world’s main robotics clusters.
Trade leaders say the issues transcend a standard financial slowdown. Weak demand from key clients has harm orders. On the identical time, geopolitical tensions and broader financial uncertainty have made corporations extra cautious about investing in new automation gear.
“The scenario stays difficult. Our business is concurrently grappling with weak demand, geopolitical uncertainty, and difficult location circumstances,” stated Dr. Olaf Munkelt, chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation.
“This makes it all of the extra vital that we decisively strengthen our competitiveness – our levers for this are buyer centricity, innovation, and braveness,” he stated. “On the identical time, we have to decide up the tempo and be sooner in implementation. The duty for policymakers is to considerably enhance the framework circumstances for entrepreneurial exercise now.”
Based on the affiliation, Germany’s robotics business can also be shedding floor internationally. Rivals, significantly in Asia, are increasing sooner and gaining market share. The VDMA has warned that prime prices, regulatory burdens, and gradual decision-making in Europe are making it more durable for native corporations to compete.
Current information exhibits the downturn has been constructing. Income fell in 2024, and order consumption — particularly from inside Germany — dropped sharply. Home clients have pulled again on spending, and export markets haven’t been sturdy sufficient to offset the decline.
Nonetheless, Munkelt remained optimistic about the long run.
“The long-term progress drivers – digitalization, AI, good manufacturing, and automation – stay intact,” Munkelt stated. “We now have to create the circumstances in order that German and European robotics and automation can as soon as once more take a transparent lead. We want fast deregulation and aggressive value buildings to return to a progress trajectory.”
Based on the Worldwide Federation of Robotics (IFR), Germany is the biggest robotics market in Europe and the fifth-largest on the earth. Based on the 2025 IFR World Robotics Report, robotics installations in Germany fell 5% to 26,982 models in 2024, which is the second-best consequence recorded after the report yr of 2023. This represents a 32% market share of the annual whole in Europe.
North American market rebounds in 2025
After a drop in 2024, North American robotic orders rose in 2025, in keeping with the Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3). The group stated this rise in orders and income displays sturdy funding in automation throughout a rising vary of industries.
In 2025, corporations throughout North America ordered 36,766 robots valued at $2.25 billion. In contrast with 2024, this represents a 6.6% enhance in models ordered and a ten.1% enhance in income.
“The rebound in robotic orders over the course of 2025 displays renewed confidence in automation as a long-term answer to aggressive pressures,” stated Alex Shikany, government vp at A3. “We’re seeing rising adoption throughout sectors, particularly usually business functions and at automotive OEMs, as producers look to automation to deal with workforce shortages, handle reshoring initiatives, and increase productiveness.”
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