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Japan is currently the world's largest industrial robot manufacturer—providing 45% of global supply. In recent years, the country's robot suppliers have significantly increased production capacity: export ratios rose to 78% in 2020, with industrial robot shipments reaching 136,069 units.
Over the past five years, Japan's industrial robot exports have had a compound annual growth rate of 6%, while robot import volumes have remained extremely low. In 2020, only about 2% of Japanese robots were imported. Japan's domestic robot market is the world's second-largest after China.
36% of Japanese robot and automation technology exports go to China. Like other international robot suppliers, Japanese manufacturers serve the Chinese market directly through their factories in China. These factories located in the world's largest industrial robot market proved to be a major advantage in 2020 when international supply chains were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Japanese suppliers were able to fully benefit from China's economic recovery starting in the second quarter of 2020.
The United States became another major market for Japanese robot and automation technology exports with a 22% market share. Both the US and China are expected to recover further from the Covid-19 pandemic.
