How many humanoid robots were actually sold last year? The 7,000-robot reality check
Quick answer: About 7,000 humanoids were sold worldwide in 2025, and much of that demand came from research rather than productive commercial work.
About 7,000 humanoids were sold worldwide in 2025, and much of that demand came from research rather than productive commercial work.
- Compare 7,000 humanoids with roughly 542,000 conventional industrial robots installed in 2024 and about 199,000 professional service robots.
- Separate research purchases for collecting AI training data from machines doing repeatable paid work.
- Treat single- and double-digit automaker pilots as experiments until they produce repeat orders and measured uptime.
- Judge the 90,000-unit 2026 and 1.2-million-unit 2030 forecasts against shipments, safety records, useful work per shift, and total operating cost.
Good to know: This is the first year the International Federation of Robotics has tracked humanoids, so there is not yet a long comparable history.
Source: Reuters
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