Economy 25 August 2024, 8:02pm

Hungary among the leaders in robotisation in the EU

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In Hungary, almost 30% of large companies used industrial robots in 2022, the fourth highest rate in the EU, according to a recent research by Eurofound. More than 10% of large enterprises use service robots in Hungary, a tad higher share than the EU average.

At EU level, the share of enterprises using robots experienced a slight decline between 2018 and 2022, to 6.3% from 6.7%, according to a research by Eurofound. The EU organisation for social affairs, employment and labour has reported that the EU-level trend is driven by a moderate decline in the share of enterprises using robots in several countries, including Bulgaria, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

In contrast, in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Malta, the share of enterprises using robots increased substantially between 2018 and 2022. However, it is important to note that these countries have relatively small economies and markets for robots, which can contribute to the overestimation of relative changes.

The share of enterprises using industrial or service robots was the highest in Denmark (12%) in 2022, followed by Belgium (10%), Finland, Italy, and Spain (all 9%). The share was the lowest in Cyprus, Greece (both 2%), Romania, and Bulgaria (both 3%).

The share of enterprises using industrial or service robots was also 4% in Hungary, the third lowest figure in the EU,

and the same as in Ireland, Poland, and Croatia. The Hungarian rate picked up to 4% in 2022 from 3% in 2018.

Industrial and service robots
In its questionnaire, Eurostat distinguished between industrial and service robots using the following definitions.

An industrial robot (e.g. robots used for welding, laser cutting or spray painting) is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable on three or more axes. It may be either fixed in place or mobile. Most industrial robots comprise a robotic arm and a series of links and joints, with an end effector that carries out the task.

A service robot (e.g. robots used for surveillance, cleaning or transport) has a degree of autonomy and can operate in complex and dynamic environments. It may require interaction with people, objects or other devices. Service robots use wheels or legs to achieve mobility and are often used in inspection, transport or maintenance tasks.

The distinction between the two types of robots is therefore driven by the level of autonomy that they have in performing tasks: whereas industrial robots perform tasks in a structured environment with external safeguards, service robots have a degree of autonomy, which allows them to operate in human environments. As a result, they require greater sensing, motion and decision-making capabilities and are designed to perform specific tasks (Eurostat, 2023).

Although the share of enterprises in the EU using robots declined slightly between 2018 and 2022, the number of robot installations increased during the same period. Europe continues to hold its position as the second-largest market for industrial robotic installations globally. Amid labour supply challenges stemming from demographic ageing, demand, especially for service robots, is expected to increase.

Large national markets for robots, such as those of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, have seen substantial increases in the number of robots in recent years.

This indicates a tendency in the market for robots in Europe to become more concentrated, with a lower or relatively stable share of companies using robots but a higher number of robots per company,

the report says.

The use of industrial and service robots is correlated with company size. In all Member States (except Greece in the case of industrial robots), larger companies are more likely than smaller ones to use both types of robots, with wide variation across countries in terms of prevalence.

Given the high capital investment requirements and the economies of scale necessary to make investments in robots profitable, large enterprises dominate the market for robots in the EU.

Around 1 in 5 large enterprises in the EU use industrial robots, while only 1 in 10 use service robots. In general, the prevalence of service robots, capable of executing more complex tasks than industrial robots with a certain degree of autonomy, is much lower than that of industrial robots.

Industrial robots

The prevalence of both types of robots shows great differences across Europe. More than 1 in 3 large companies (employing more than 250 people) in Czechia and Slovenia use industrial robots, while the same is true for fewer than 5% of large companies in Cyprus and Greece. Furthermore, on average, around 1 in 5 large companies in the EU use industrial robots and only 1 in 10 use service robots.

IN HUNGARY, NEARLY 30% OF LARGE COMPANIES USED INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS IN 2022, THE FOURTH HIGHEST RATE, WHILE THE EU RATE WAS JUST OVER 20%.

The large intra-EU geographical variation in the use of industrial and service robots is driven by the sectoral composition of national economies.

Countries with large, complex manufacturing sectors, such as automotive, petrochemical and metal industries, tend to have a higher share of enterprises using industrial robots.

Service robots

Service robots are most common in large companies in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden, where at least 15% of companies use them. Italy also stands out compared with other countries in terms of the prevalence of service robots among medium-sized companies.

in hungary, some 10% of large companies used service robots in 2022, slightly over the eu average.

The main applications of service robots vary substantially. The most common use of service robots (just over 40% in 2020) was in warehouse management systems. The technologies include autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), storage retrieval systems, packing robots and articulated robot arms.

"The high prevalence of these robotic technologies is not surprising given the repetitiveness of warehouse management tasks, the potentially dangerous working environments and the increasing difficulty of finding workers to perform such tasks amid increasing labour shortages. Other common applications of service robots include cleaning or waste disposal tasks and surveillance, security and inspections," the report says.

The manufacturing sector is the main industry in which both industrial and service robots are used. More than 16% of EU enterprises in the manufacturing sector use industrial robots and around 4% use service robots.

The difference with other sectors is stark when it comes to industrial robots but less so when looking at the use of service robots. Notably, the use of service robots seems to be more evenly distributed across sectors (see Figure 4), which can be explained by their adaptability and their lower capital requirements than industrial robots.

The most important factor driving the adoption of robots within enterprises is the need to ensure high-precision outputs and processes, followed by the need to increase safety at work (see Table 4). However, the EU average hides a large variation between Member States.

The need to ensure the high precision of outputs and services is the most frequently identified reason for robot adoption in Belgium, Denmark and Italy. These are also countries where the need to increase safety at work and the need to expand the range of goods and services are cited by many enterprises as key reasons for robot adoption.

This indicates that the choices that enterprises make with regard to introducing robots in workplaces are often driven by competing reasons.

These include business concerns revolving around the quality of goods and services, competitiveness in product markets and increased productivity, but also concerns regarding working conditions, for example related to the safety of work.

According to data gathered by the Eurostat survey on information and communications technology use in enterprises, high labour costs and difficulties in recruiting personnel feature prominently as reasons to invest in robots. Increased competitiveness and productivity gains are key internal factors.

Amid labour supply challenges stemming from demographic ageing, demand, especially for service robots, is expected to increase,

according to the report.

According to 2022 data, the main reasons why Hungarian enterprises said they were using robots were to ensure high precision of outputs and processes (3.2%), to enhance safety at work (2.1%), to expand the range of goods and services (1.9%), while difficulties in recruiting personnel (1.6%) and high costs of labour (1.5%) were emphasised less.