The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy released its “2016 Research on the Actual Conditions of the Robot Industry.” The Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (sponsoring agency) and the Korea Association of Robot Industry (supervising agency) has been conducting surveys related to the robot industry – the country’s new growth engine – since 2006 after establishing the government’s statistics, in order to provide continuity to the surveys and to establish a statistics system.

This year’s survey examines the current state of Korea’s robot businesses, production and shipping performance according to each item, the state of manpower (workforce) and the state of research and development performance as of the end of December 2016. This was undertaken to provide basic data on the business strategies of the companies and government policies, with the final objective of giving impetus to the Korean robotics industry. The survey was carried out from June 2 to July 31, 2016 by survey professionals who conducted interviews at the respective companies. The survey categories comprise the type of robot business, number of employees, financial status, production and shipment status, and import status by item. The main contents of the finalized status report will be delivered in three parts.

1. Overview of Korea’s Robot Industry
2. Sales and Production Status
3. Export & Import Status

▲ Sales trend by item in recent 3 years (Unit:KRW million. %)

Businesses with sales of between KRW1 billion and KRW5 billion saw the most increases in revenue at 21.0%. In addition, companies specializing in "Professional service robots" saw the largest increase in sales, compared to 2015. On the other hand, sales of “Personal service robots” decreased compared to the previous year.

“Manufacturing robots” accounted for KRW2,700.9 billion, accounting for 58.8 percent of the total KRW4, 597.2 billion. At the end of 2016, the robot industry production amounted to KRW4,475 billion, up 12.9% from KRW3,963.6 billion in the previous year. “Manufacturing robots” amounted to KRW2,668.7 billion, accounting for 59.6%, and “Robot parts and accessories” accounted for 24.6%, to KRW1,989 billion.

According to the production results from each sector, the production of manufacturing robots increased by 9.1% from the previous year to KRW2,668.7 billion, while exports increased by 0.6% to KRW680.6 billion. On the other hand, imports fell 9.1% to KRW399 billion. For service robots, there was a year on year increase in their production (21.2%), exports (48.1%), and imports (75.5%), recording KRW707.4 billion, KRW152.2 billion, and KRW78.1 billion, respectively. For robot parts and accessories there were YoY increases in production (17.6%) and exports (178.6%) to KRW1,989 billion and KRW100.7 billion, respectively, while YoY imports fell by 7.5% to KRW144.2 billion.

▲ Robot sales trend by sector (Unit :KRW 100 Million. %)

As of 2016, the production of “Manufacturing Robots” amounted to KRW2,668.7 billion; in this sector, production rates, in order, were “Transfer robots” (KRW970.4 billion), “Other manufacturing robots” (KRW624.6 billion), “Assembly and disassembly robots” (KRW338.1 billion), And “Welding robots” (KRW 320.2 billion).

The survey found that production of “Manufacturing robots” was highest for the “Linear Robot” type at KRW986.7 billion. The “Articulated Robot” type (KRW796.9 billion) and “Cylindrical Robot” type (KRW55.4 billion) came in second and third, respectively. As of 2016, production of “Professional Service Robots” amounted to KRW375.2 billion. This was followed by “Other professional service robots” (KRW106 billion), “Medical robots” (KRW103 billion), “Military robots” (KRW51.7 billion) and “Agriculture, forestry, and fishery robots” (KRW34.7 billion).

As of 2016, shipments of robotics (domestic consumption + exports) was KRW4,562.1 billion, an increase of 13.9% compared to the previous year's shipment of KRW4,059 billion. Shipment growth according to each sector was as follows: “Professional service robots,” 58.6%; “Robot Parts and accessories,” 17.4%, “Manufacturing robots,” 9.1%, and “Personal service robots,” 6.0%. “Manufacturing robots” accounted for KRW2,719 billion (59.2%), while “Robot parts and accessories” accounted for 24.7% (KRW1,127.4 billion).

As of 2016, domestic consumption in the robot industry stood at KRW3,628.5 billion, up 13.7% from the previous year's KRW3,190 billion. Compared to last year, the increase in domestic consumption, in order, are “Professional service robots,” 48.2%, “Manufacturing robots” 12.3%, “Robot parts and accessories” 11.0% and “Personal service robots,” 4.4%.