Korea still tops IFR's robot density ranking, but its figure fell from 1,220 to 1,066

South Korea's robot density fell by about 13% in the International Federation of Robotics' latest figures, even as the federation's Nov. 12 release called it the "undisputed leader." The World Robotics 2026 data, for 2025, give Korea 1,066 industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees. In April, IFR's World Robotics 2025 data for 2024 had Korea at 1,220, growing 7% a year on average since 2019.

Korea is still first by a wide margin. But it is the only country among those IFR names in both releases whose figure went down:

Robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees	2024 (April release)	2025 (November release)
South Korea	1,220	1,066
Singapore	818	873
Germany	449	469
Japan	446	452
United States	307	323
China	166	193
World average	132	152

Korea's lead over second-placed Singapore shrank from 402 to 193. The world average rose about 15%. China, the largest market for industrial robots, moved from 22nd to 19th. IFR says China's density rose 147% from 2020 through 2025, measured against employment data from China's National Bureau of Statistics.

Neither release explains the Korean drop, and the explanation decides what it means. If a larger count of Korean factory workers drove it, the ranking says little new. If the number of robots operating in Korea shrank, the country whose electronics and car plants IFR credited in April for its lead is retiring robots faster than it installs them.