IFR World Robotics 2026: what the data says about professional service robots

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) published its World Robotics 2026 Service Robots figures on 30 September 2026. According to the IFR's press release, almost 250,000 professional service robots were sold worldwide in 2025, up 24%. Transport and logistics robots dominate. Hospitality robots, the category closest to events, come second, and full-size humanoids remain a small niche.

Who the IFR is and why its numbers get quoted

The IFR is the industry association for robot manufacturers, national robotics associations and research institutes. Each year it publishes two World Robotics reports, one on industrial robots and one on service robots. Journalists, analysts and investors cite both reports because they rest on a supplier survey that has run in the same form for many years. Most market-size claims that do not use the IFR at least compare themselves to it.

For service robots, the IFR follows the ISO 8373 definition. On its service robots page, it describes a service robot as a machine that does useful tasks for people or equipment, either fully autonomously or with some human involvement. The IFR divides the market into professional robots, used by businesses, and consumer robots, used in homes. Medical robots are a separate class in ISO 8373:2021, but the IFR still covers them in its service robot report.

The IFR conducts the survey in the first quarter of each year. The full report is sold, and a free executive summary is available. Most public discussion, including this article, works from the press releases and summaries rather than the full data tables.

The headline numbers for 2025

The September 2026 release gives these figures for 2025:

• Professional service robots: nearly 250,000 units sold, up 24%.
• Transport and logistics: 117,500 units, up 21%. This is 47% of professional units and the largest application.
• Hospitality: second place. The IFR did not give a unit count in its release.
• Professional cleaning: third place, with floor cleaning as the main use. Again, the release gave no unit figure.
• Surgical robots: 8,400 units, up 57%. The IFR calls them the main driver of growth in medical robotics.
• Consumer service robots: almost 34.2 million units, up 37%.
• Full-size humanoids: about 7,000 units taller than 140 cm sold worldwide.

IFR President Jane Heffner said in the release that sales grew by double digits in all three segments: professional, medical and consumer. The release also says that robot-as-a-service (RaaS) business models kept gaining popularity. Under RaaS, the customer pays for the robot as a service, for example by subscription, rather than buying it. Traditional sales remain the main channel worldwide, but according to the IFR, RaaS is already the dominant model in the United States.

What the previous report showed

The World Robotics 2025 service robots release, published on 7 October 2025, covered 2024. It reported almost 200,000 professional service robots sold, up 9%. It gave more detail by category than this year's release:

• Transport and logistics: 102,900 units, up 14%.
• Hospitality: more than 42,000 units, down 11%.
• Professional cleaning: more than 25,000 units, up 34%.
• Agriculture: 19,500 units, down 6%.
• Search and rescue and security: 3,100 units, up 19%, with about three-quarters used for security services.
• Medical robots: around 16,700 units, up 91%.
• Consumer service robots: close to 20 million units, up 11%.

The 2025 figures came from a sample of 294 service robot suppliers. The IFR also states that compiling or comparing data from different World Robotics reports is strongly discouraged. The supplier sample changes and earlier years are revised, so subtracting last year's published total from this year's will not give you a reliable growth rate. Use the growth percentages each report gives for its own year, and treat any comparison across reports as rough.

Hospitality robots: the category events actually touch

For event organisers, hospitality is the most relevant line in the data. The IFR says most hospitality robots are used for mobile guidance, information points in public spaces, and telepresence. That covers the reception robots, wayfinding kiosks and screen-on-wheels units seen in airports, hotels and exhibition halls. Humanoid greeters such as SoftBank Robotics' Pepper belong to this world, even though most units in the category are not humanoid at all.

In the 2025 report, the IFR linked the 11% fall in hospitality sales in 2024 to changes within the sector. Guidance and telepresence robots, it said, were competing with newer uses such as food and beverage preparation. The 2026 release keeps hospitality in second place but gives no unit count, so it is not possible to say from public material whether that segment recovered in 2025. For a wider look at where service robots in hotels are useful, see our guide on robots in hotels and hospitality.

The humanoid figure in context

The World Robotics 2026 report adds a special chapter on humanoid robots. The release puts global sales of full-size humanoids, defined as taller than 140 cm, at about 7,000 units in 2025. Against almost 250,000 professional service robots and 34.2 million consumer robots, that is a very small slice of the market.

The IFR is also careful about what these machines do today. Its release says most current humanoid applications are specialised and often depend on human teleoperation. It names safety standards, high training and maintenance costs, and the lack of a strong business case, especially in industry, as the main barriers to wide adoption. Other organisations count humanoids differently, by height or by sales versus shipments. Our overview of analyst counts of humanoid shipments explains why their figures differ.

The safety point matters for public venues. Work on dedicated standards for legged and humanoid robots is still in progress; our article on ISO 25785-1 describes where that stands. The teleoperation point matters for audience expectations. Many robots at events are partly or fully controlled by an operator, which our guide on teleoperated versus autonomous robots explains in practical terms.

The industrial context

The service robot release came a week after the IFR's industrial robot figures. In its 24 September 2026 release, the IFR reported more than 600,000 industrial robots installed in 2025, up 11%. It said the global operational stock reached 5 million units. China accounted for 59% of installations, at 354,000 units.

The two datasets measure different things, so they should not be added together. Still, the comparison is useful. Professional service robots remain a fraction of the industrial robot market in annual units. Within the service robot market, logistics far outweighs everything customer-facing.

Why the IFR expects growth to continue

Alongside the data, the IFR published a position paper on the impact of service robots on human life. It names labour shortages as the strongest driver of adoption. Ageing populations and falling birth rates are shrinking workforces, while demand for healthcare, hospitality, logistics and public services keeps rising. The paper also says trust and safety are becoming decisive for adoption, including cybersecurity, privacy, responsible AI and safe interaction between people and robots.

This is the IFR's view as an industry body, and it should be read that way. The paper is an argument for adoption, not an independent forecast. The unit figures are survey results from suppliers, not audited sales.

What this means for event organisers

• Customer-facing robots are a minority of the market. Most professional service robots move goods in warehouses and factories. Guidance, information and telepresence robots make up a smaller but established segment.
• Humanoids are still rare. About 7,000 full-size units sold worldwide in 2025 means limited availability and specialist operation. Expect quotes to reflect that, and use our guide to comparing robot hire quotes to read them like for like.
• Ask about control. The IFR itself notes that humanoids often rely on teleoperation. Ask suppliers who operates the robot and what parts, if any, run autonomously.
• Quote statistics carefully. If you cite IFR figures in a pitch or press release, name the report year and avoid combining numbers from different editions, as the IFR advises.
• Safety rules are still evolving. Standards for humanoids in public spaces are still being written, so a written site risk assessment and clear exclusion zones remain essential.

Frequently asked questions

How many professional service robots were sold in 2025 according to the IFR?

According to the IFR's World Robotics 2026 Service Robots release of 30 September 2026, almost 250,000 professional service robots were sold worldwide in 2025, a rise of 24%. Transport and logistics was the largest application with 117,500 units, followed by hospitality and professional cleaning. Consumer service robots, counted separately, reached almost 34.2 million units.

How many humanoid robots does the IFR say were sold in 2025?

The IFR estimates that about 7,000 full-size humanoid robots, defined as taller than 140 cm, were sold globally in 2025. The figure comes from a special humanoid chapter in the World Robotics 2026 report. The IFR adds that most current humanoid applications are specialised and often need human teleoperation, and that safety standards, costs and weak business cases still limit adoption.

What counts as a hospitality robot in IFR statistics?

In its 2026 release the IFR says hospitality robots are mainly machines for mobile guidance, information points in public environments, and telepresence. These include reception and wayfinding robots in hotels, airports and exhibition venues. The 2025 report also mentioned newer uses such as food and beverage preparation. Most robots in the category are not humanoid.

Can I compare figures from different IFR World Robotics reports?

The IFR strongly discourages compiling or comparing data across different World Robotics reports. The supplier sample changes from year to year and earlier figures may be revised. It is safer to use the growth rates each report gives for its own year and to state which edition a number comes from when you quote it.

How this article was made: written by the humanoid4rent editorial team with AI assistance; every factual statement was checked against the sources listed below on 2026-10-31. Spotted an error? Write to info@humanoid4rent.com.