World Robotics survey produced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in cooperation with the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

How large were the robot investments in 2000?

"2000 was a record year with almost 100,000 new robots being installed worldwide, representing an increase of as much as 25% over 1999", says Jan Karlsson responsible for the publication.   "47,000 robots were installed in Japan while in the European Union some new 30,000 units were added to the stock, compared with 13,000 units in North America".

Why invest in robots?

In the last decade the performance of robots has increased radically while at the same time prices have been plummeting.   A robot sold in 2000 would have cost less than a fifth of what a robot with the same performance would have cost in 1990.

  Compare and contrast to other World Robotics Surveys