A19 I According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), there were 373,481 working industrial robots in Japan in 2005. The correct answer is (b), 40.5%.

In 1985, there were 93,000 working industrial robots in Japan, which then represented 67.2% of the total number of robots worldwide. While Japan is the world's leading robot superpower, North America (Canada, the United States, and Mexico) and Europe are slowly catching up. Western Europe, which in 1985 had 24,588 robots representing 17.8% of the world total, in 2005 had 287,235 robots, a 31.1% share. Among the European countries, Germany's 2005 figure of 126,725 robots is approaching that of North America, which then had 139,553.