German Robotics and Automation Faces 10% Revenue Drop

Summary

June 2, 2025 - The robotics and automation industry in Germany is expected to generate total sales of €14.5 billion in 2025. This is a drop of 10% compared to the previous year.
 
"The revenue weakness announced at the start of the year has been confirmed in our current forecast for 2025," said Dr. Dietmar Ley, chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation. "Growth prospects are currently clouded in all subsectors through the end of the year."


 

Robotics + Automation: A comparison of the three subsectors

The Machine Vision subsector is stagnating with zero growth and is expected to generate industry revenues of €3.1 billion. The forecast for robotics has slightly worsened from -3% to -5%, with expected revenues of €3.7 billion for 2025. The sharpest decline is anticipated for Automated Solutions, with a projected revenue drop of 15% to €7.7 billion.
 

Strengthening competitiveness

Key causes of the economic weakness in Europe and Germany include postponed investment plans due to current geopolitical tensions and increasing competitive pressure from Asian rivals. Companies in the robotics and automation industry are therefore working hard to strengthen their own competitiveness. At the world’s leading marketplace for automated production, automatica in Munich (June 24–27), the latest technologies and trends for all industrial sectors will be presented. Key focus areas include automation solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
 

'VDMA robotics action plan for Europe'

“Robotics and automation are key technologies without which industrial production in a high-wage country like Germany will no longer be conceivable in the future,” said Dr. Dietmar Ley. “Politics and business must now take concerted action to reduce location-based disadvantages in international competition and set the course for renewed growth.” To this end, the “VDMA Robotics Action Plan for Europe” sets out three core demands:
Make more venture capital available for startups and scale-ups. Establish a roadmap for competitiveness. Focus specifically on scaling up European innovation. In addition, the investment support announced by the new German government must now be swiftly implemented. A political dialogue on these topics will take place during Poland’s EU Council Presidency on June 23, 2025, at the Polish Embassy in Berlin. 

About VDMA 

The VDMA represents 3600 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 870 billion euros. Around 80% of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market. 
 
The VDMA Robotics + Automation Association (VDMA R+A) is a trade association within the umbrella of the VDMA with more than 420 member companies: Suppliers of components and systems from the fields of robotics, automated solutions and machine vision. The aim of this industry-driven platform is to support robotics and automation through a wide range of activities and services. Key activities include statistical analysis and market surveys, marketing activities, standards development, public relations, research, trend studies, trade fair policy as well as networking events and conferences.