About 7,000 humanoid robots were sold worldwide in 2025 for industrial and professional service applications, according to data from the International Federation of Robotics, providing an early benchmark for a sector attracting heavy investment but still operating at relatively small commercial scale.

The figure was reported by Reuters from IFR data. It is far below the scale of established robotics categories: roughly 542,000 conventional industrial robots were installed globally in 2024, while about 199,000 professional service robots were sold.

The comparison highlights the gap between the visibility of humanoid demonstrations and the number of systems already being deployed commercially.

IFR begins dedicated humanoid tracking

The IFR has started a dedicated annual data collection for humanoid robots as commercial activity increases. Its definition requires a human-like appearance and autonomous operation in environments designed for people, although a robot does not necessarily need legs to qualify.

The federation’s survey covers industrial and professional service applications. Consumer, military and medical robots are excluded from the humanoid tally under the collection methodology reported by Reuters.

Many of the humanoid systems sold so far are being used for research, testing and data collection rather than continuous productive work. Automakers and other manufacturers are also running pilot deployments, often involving relatively small numbers of machines.

Featured image: Gabriele Malaspina on Unsplash

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