The World Robotics 2025 report, published by the International Federation of Robotics, brings a set of figures that deserve a reading beyond the growth headlines. Yes, the market is growing. But the pattern of growth reveals a great deal about where the field still is and where it still has to go.

What really grew

Medical robots were the highlight: 16,700 units sold, a 91% increase over 2023. It is the fastest-growing segment by percentage within professional service robotics. This reflects both the acceleration of surgical robots and the arrival of hospital logistics robots.

Professional service robots as a whole reached 199,000 units, up 9%. That is consistent, not explosive.

The revealing niche: home care

The figure that matters most for social robotics is almost hidden in the report: home-care robots accounted for only 536 sales in the sample of producers collected by the IFR. The reason is not technological. It is systemic. Domestic environments are unstructured, unpredictable and intimate.

What this suggests for the coming years

The most likely trajectory is a market wave: first B2B in controlled environments, then B2B2C with robots as a service integrated into health plans and home care, and only later the end consumer. The RaaS model is likely to be the main vector of that second wave.