IO-Link Continues Growth in Automation
The annual survey of installed IO-Link devices has once again been completed, confirming continued stable growth and reinforcing IO-Link’s strong position in the global market.
Thus, IO-Link remains a key growth driver at the sensor and actuator level. In 2025, approximately 9.7 million new IO-Link devices and master ports were installed worldwide. This brings the total number of IO-Link nodes installed globally to 71 million. This development once again underscores the high level of industrial acceptance and the continuous spread of the standard across all industries. Following the particularly high volumes of previous years, the market is now entering a phase of normalization at a still very high level.
IO-Link benefits from its key role in end-to-end digitalization, from the sensor all the way to higher-level IT and cloud structures. Topics such as transparency at the field level, easy integration, standardized data models, and seamless integration into higher-level systems like PROFINET make IO-Link an indispensable enabler for data-driven automation, condition monitoring, and AI-supported applications. With new extensions such as IO-Link Safety, wireless approaches, and further-developed profiles, the range of applications is continuously expanding and creating additional momentum for future growth.
