The North American robotics industry gained traction in the first half of 2025, according to an Aug. 12 report from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).

Robotic orders in North America rose 4.3% in the first half of 2025 vs. a year earlier, with revenue up 7.5% to $1.094 billion, A3 said in its 2Q Automation Investment Report.

Companies ordered 17,635 robots during the the first half of the year, led by automotive OEMs with a 34% year-over-year increase in units. Other sectors with strong growth included plastics and rubber (+9.0%) and life sciences/pharma/biomed (+8.0%), driven by reshoring efforts, labor shortages and operational efficiency demands.

MDM’s 2Q25 MarketPulse Report (store link) 

In the second quarter alone, 8,571 robots worth $513 million were ordered, up 9.0% year-over-year. Life sciences/pharma/biomed posted the highest 2Q growth at 22.0%, followed by semiconductors/electronics/photonics  at +18%.

A3 said the non-automotive sector led 2Q orders, accounting for 56% of total units, reflecting the broader adoption of automation across industries beyond automotive.

Collaborative robots (cobots) are capturing a larger share of the market, A3 noted, with 3,085 units ordered in the first half of the year and valued at $114 million. In 2Q, cobots made up 23.7% of all units and 14.7% of revenue.

In the Store: MDM’s U.S. MRO Market Trends Report 

A3, which began tracking cobots as a distinct category in 1Q25, noted their growing use in labor- or space-constrained environments and plans to report future growth trends by sector.