Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of industrial robots during 2018.

1. Japan: US$2 billion (32.9% of total industrial robots exports)
2. Germany: $715.6 million (11.8%)
3. Italy: $432.3 million (7.1%)
4. France: $349.1 million (5.8%)
5. China: $265 million (4.4%)
6. Denmark: $255.3 million (4.2%)
7. United States: $251.1 million (4.1%)
8. Austria: $212.1 million (3.5%)
9. Sweden: $182.2 million (3%)
10. Netherlands: $175.5 million (2.9%)
11. South Korea: $173.7 million (2.9%)
12. Taiwan: $158.7 million (2.6%)
13. Singapore: $95.6 million (1.6%)
14. Luxembourg: $94.6 million (1.6%)
15. Spain: $94.5 million (1.6%)

By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 89.9% of worldwide industrial robots exported in 2018.

Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing industrial robots exporters since 2014 were: Luxembourg (up 682.5%), Denmark (up 515.2%), Singapore (up 223.6%) and China (up 92.7%).

Those countries that posted the most modest increases in their exported industrial robots sales were: South Korea (up 3.5%), Germany (up 7.3%) and Sweden (down 9.2%).

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for industrial robots during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported industrial robots and its import purchases for that same commodity.

1. Japan: US$1.9 billion (net export surplus up 36.1% since 2014)
2. Denmark: $226.1 million (up 1,727%)
3. Germany: $214.3 million (down -8.6%)
4. Italy: $199.6 million (up 1.1%)
5. France: $191.9 million (up 82.7%)
6. Austria: $130.1 million (up 21.3%)
7. Sweden: $119.2 million (down -11.5%)
8. Netherlands: $47.6 million (reversing an -$11.4 million deficit)
9. Luxembourg: $37.7 million (reversing a -$1.7 million deficit)
10. Finland: $30.9 million (down -19.3%)
11. Singapore: $23 million (reversing a -$19 million deficit)
12. Taiwan: $19.4 million (reversing a -$7.3 million deficit)
13. Croatia: $9.2 million (reversing a -$3.2 million deficit)
14. South Korea: $7.8 million (down -77.4%)
15. Bulgaria: $2.9 million (reversing a -$4.2 million deficit)
Japan earned the highest surplus in the international trade of industrial robots. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Japan’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for industrial robots during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s import purchases of industrial robots and its exports for that same commodity.

1. China: -US$879.2 million (net export deficit up 15.5% since 2014)
2. United States: -$240.1 million (up 393%)
3. India: -$211.4 million (up 188.2%)
4. Czech Republic: -$148 million (up 194%)
5. Mexico: -$141.8 million (up 81%)
6. Brazil: -$92 million (up 0.6%)
7. Poland: -$79.9 million (up 26.8%)
8. Malaysia: -$75.1 million (up 61%)
9. Turkey: -$72.1 million (down -57.3%)
10. Vietnam: -$50.9 million (up 146.5%)
11. Slovakia: -$48.7 million (up 239.6%)
12. Thailand: -$47.8 million (up 4.7%)
13. Morocco: -$45 million (up 276.9%)
14. Portugal: -$41.5 million (up 91%)
15. South Africa: -$40.9 million (up 274.7%)

China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of industrial robots. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for industrial robots-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.

Top Robotics Exporting Companies

According to PlantAutomation-Technology.com, the following businesses comprise the world’s top industrial robotics companies.

• ABB Group (Switzerland)
• Adept Technology Inc (United States)
• Apex Automation and Robotics (Australia)
• Aurotek Corp (Taiwan)
• Fanuc Corp (Japan)
• Kawasaki Robotics Inc (Japan)
• Mitsubishi (Japan)
• Rockwell Automation Inc (United States)
• Stäubli (Switzerland)
• Yaskawa Electric Corp (Japan)