“After three years of declining turnover, the European machine vision industry is returning to a growth trajectory in 2026,” says Daniel Seiler, chair of VDMA Machine Vision, on the opening of VISION 2026. “It is particularly encouraging that demand in Europe is also beginning to recover. Together with robotics and artificial intelligence, machine vision forms the foundation for efficient, flexible and competitive production processes. At the same time, new fields of application are emerging beyond traditional factory automation,” adds Seiler.
Uncertainty in Germany dampens business climate
Despite the growth outlook, economic conditions remain challenging for the European machine vision industry. Recent VDMA surveys show that geopolitical uncertainties and difficult economic conditions continue to weigh on business sentiment and investment willingness. Growth opportunities for “machine vision made in Europe” are currently coming primarily from North America and Asia. In Germany, however, demand remains subdued, affecting the development of the European machine vision industry overall. Nevertheless, VDMA Machine Vision remains cautiously optimistic for 2026 and expects revenue growth of around 3%.
Recovery for machine vision components began in 2025
Component manufacturers experienced a turnaround as early as 2025, increasing their revenues by 4% compared with the previous year. Current surveys indicate that demand for cameras, sensors, optics and other components will continue to grow in 2026. The situation is different in the machine vision systems segment, where revenues declined by 6% in 2025. Persistently weak demand, particularly in Germany, has so far prevented a broader recovery.
Artificial intelligence remains the main growth driver
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be the defining technology trend in industrial machine vision. In the VDMA survey “Machine Vision in Europe,” nearly two-thirds of respondents identified AI technologies as key drivers of their current and future business activities. AI is not only increasing its importance in existing applications but is also enabling entirely new use cases.
Long-term outlook remains positive
Despite ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainties, VDMA Machine Vision views the long-term prospects of the European machine vision industry positively. The industry sees itself back on a growth path and looks forward with great anticipation to VISION 2026, where strong interest from both domestic and international participants is expected.
Momentum expected from the world’s leading trade fair: VISION
From 6 to 8 October 2026, VISION in Stuttgart will showcase the full spectrum of machine vision technology over three days. This year’s event opens with a new exhibitor record: around 500 exhibiting companies from Germany and abroad will present their latest developments and innovations to an international audience.
About VDMA
The VDMA represents 3500 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 900 billion euros.
Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.
As part of the VDMA Robotics + Automation trade association, VDMA Machine Vision has more than 120 members: suppliers of machine vision systems and components, as well as integrators. The aim of this industry-driven platform is to support the machine vision industry through a wide range of activities and services. The main areas of work are statistical analyses and the annual Machine Vision market survey, standardization activities, marketing, public relations, research, trade fair policy and networking events.
