Robotics and automation market seen topping $202 billion by 2030

The Business Research Company says the global robotics and automation market will grow from $77.85 billion in 2025 to $94.53 billion in 2026, then more than double to $202.54 billion by 2030. The report points to e-commerce growth, industrial automation and smart factory investment as key drivers, with North America leading today and Asia-Pacific expected to grow fastest.

Why it matters: - Robotics and automation is becoming a core infrastructure layer for manufacturing, logistics and warehousing. - The market’s projected jump to $202.54 billion by 2030 signals continued capital spending on efficiency, quality and labor substitution. - E-commerce growth is adding pressure for faster inventory handling, order fulfillment and warehouse operations.

What happened: - The Business Research Company released its Robotics and Automation Global Market Report 2026, covering market size, trends and a 2026-2035 forecast. - The report puts the market at $77.85 billion in 2025 and $94.53 billion in 2026, a 21.4% annual increase. - The report forecasts the market will reach $202.54 billion by 2030, at a 21.0% CAGR during the forecast period. - North America held the largest regional share in 2025. - Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing region over the forecast period.

The details: - The report ties near-term growth to broader industrial automation, rising labor costs, expanding manufacturing activity and a stronger focus on production quality. - Longer-term growth is linked to intelligent robotic systems, autonomous operations, advanced sensors, control systems, smart factory investment and adaptable automation tools. - Robotics and automation is defined in the report as the use of programmable machines, software and control mechanisms to perform tasks with minimal human involvement. - The report includes robotics, artificial intelligence, machine vision, sensor technologies and industrial automation as part of the broader technology stack. - The market analysis spans Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa. - The report says its 2026 edition includes market attractiveness scoring, TAM analysis, company scoring matrices, Excel forecasting dashboards, market hotspot infographics, and key technology and future-trend analysis. - The report is available as a free sample and as the full market report.

Between the lines: - E-commerce is doing more than lifting retail sales; it is reshaping warehouse economics by rewarding automation that can keep pace with higher order volumes. - The regional split suggests mature markets still anchor revenue, while Asia-Pacific is becoming the main growth engine as industrial automation broadens. - The forecast implies demand is shifting from isolated robotics deployments toward integrated, sensor-rich systems that can operate with less human oversight. - In May 2025, the U.S. Census Bureau reported U.S. e-commerce sales of $1,192.6 billion in 2024, up from $1,103.4 billion in 2023.

What's next: - The market is likely to keep expanding as factories and distribution networks adopt more autonomous systems. - Smart factory investments and software-enabled automation should remain central themes in future market updates. - Regionally, competition for growth appears set to intensify in Asia-Pacific as companies scale industrial automation capacity.

The bottom line: - Robotics and automation is moving from a productivity upgrade to a strategic operating necessity across industrial and logistics sectors.