"Service robots are expanding into everyday operations," says Jane Heffner, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Sales went up across all three segments with double-digit growth rates: professional service robots gained 24%, medical robots grew 19%, and consumer service robots surged by an impressive 37%."
Top applications for professional service robots
Transportation and logistics stays in the lead as top application, with 117,500 units sold in 2025. This was up 21%, and represents a market share of 47%. These robots are primarily used for transportation as well as for the automation of material flows and delivery processes.. Although traditional sales remained the main monetization channel, RaaS business models continued to grow in popularity. In the US, this already is the dominant business model.
Hospitality robots rank in second place. Machines for mobile guidance, information points in public environments, and telepresence account for the majority of these robots. The market for professional cleaning robots follows in third place, with floor cleaning as the main application in this segment.
Humanoid Robots
Humanoid robots, which are designed to resemble humans and operate in human-centric environments, are gaining massive attention for their potential flexibility. While recent advances in AI, sensors and control systems have enabled impressive pilot projects, most current applications remain specialized and often require human teleoperation. In 2025, about 7,000 units of full-size humanoids (above 140 cm) were sold globally. These robots are intended for commercial and professional applications beyond R&D and entertainment.
Key challenges such as safety standards, high training and maintenance costs, and the lack of a strong business case, particularly in industrial settings, continue to limit widespread adoption. For humanoid robots to become practical everyday tools, further progress in intuitive programming, robust manipulation, economic scaling, and standardized safety is essential.
"In a special chapter of the World Robotics 2026 report, we provide a comprehensive overview about humanoids as the robotics newest market," says Dr. Werner Kraus, Chair of the IFR Service Robot Committee.
Robots for consumer use
Consumer service robots have primarily consisted of domestic robots aimed at the mass market. Overall sales of consumer robots increased by 37% to almost 34.2 million units in 2025. Key trends include automating household tasks, integrating artificial intelligence and connecting to smart home systems.
Medical robotics
With 8,400 units sold and a growth rate of 57 % surgical robots are the main driver of growth in the medical robotics market, reflecting their increasing adoption in clinical practice. The transition from technological development to commercial deployment has gained significant momentum over the past decade. This is driven by advances in robotics, improved clinical outcomes, and growing acceptance among healthcare professionals.
Downloads
Graphs and press releases for download by IFR at: https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/global-sales-of-professional-service-robots-surge-24-percent
Please note: World Robotics Service Robots report is sample data. Data is NOT projected to the whole industry. Sample composition varies each year. All numbers at the World Robotics Service Robots 2026 report are based on a sample of 238 service robot suppliers. Compiling or comparing data from different World Robotics Reports is strongly discouraged.
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About IFR
The IFR Statistical Department provides data for two annual robotics studies:
World Robotics - Industrial Robots: This unique report provides global statistics on industrial robots in standardized tables and enables national comparisons to be made. It presents statistical data for around 40 countries broken down into areas of application, customer industries, types of robots and other technical and economic aspects. Production, export and import data is listed for selected countries. It also offers robot density, i.e. the number of robots per 10,000 employees, as a measure for the degree of automation.
World Robotics - Service Robots: This unique report describes marketable products, tasks, challenges and new developments by service robots application. The report includes the results of the annual IFR service robot survey on global sales of professional and consumer service robots and an industry structure analysis including a full list of all service robot producers known to the IFR. The study is jointly prepared with the robotics experts of Fraunhofer IPA, Stuttgart.
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