The tech billionaire was responding to data showing Scotland’s deaths outpaced births by 34% in the first half of 2025.
Europe could “die out” unless it fixes its demographic problems by boosting birth rates, tech billionaire Elon Musk has warned.
In a post on X on Saturday, Musk was responding to statistics from Scotland showing 34% more deaths than births in the first half of 2025.
“Unless the birth rate at least gets back to replacement rate, Europe will die out,” he wrote, referring to the average number of children needed per couple for a population to replace itself.
The replacement fertility rate is generally set at 2.1 children per woman, accounting for child mortality and near-equal gender ratios at birth. Recent studies, however, suggest that this level may be insufficient, pointing to a long-term survival threshold closer to 2.7 children per woman.
According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, the fertility rate in England and Wales fell to 1.4 in 2024, while Scotland’s stood at 1.3 – both far below replacement levels. In the EU, fertility has been declining for years, reaching a record low of 1.4 live births per woman in 2023.
Unless the birth rate at least gets back to replacement rate, Europe will die out https://t.co/0COU5Zj9QM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2025
Musk, a vocal advocate for higher birth rates who has fathered at least 14 children and donated millions to fertility research, has often raised the alarm over the demographic decline in Europe. His warnings, however, extend beyond Europe. Musk has cited global demographic data, claiming that civilization “is going to crumble” unless birth rates rise. He previously argued that population collapse due to low fertility “is a much bigger risk to civilization” than climate change.
Either Europe starts having large families or it will keep dying https://t.co/UNX72ZRn98
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2025
Worldwide, fertility has been falling for over 50 years. UN data shows it stood at around 2.2 births per woman in 2024, down from 5 in the 1970s and 3.3 in the 1990s. Only 45% of countries and areas – home to roughly a third of the global population – reported fertility levels at or above 2.1 last year. Just 13% had fertility rates of 4.0 or higher, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Yemen.
Falling birth rates and population decline have also become a pressing issue for Russia, with Rosstat recording just 1.2 million births in 2024 – the lowest since 1999 – reflecting a fertility rate of 1.4.
Maybe the statutory/legislative regard for husbands/fathers/partners in todays Western society is counterproductive, excuse the pun?
Society demands a lot of women.
To be a wage earner, take care of the kids, keep the house and laundry clean, buy groceries and all the necessity for the children, take kids to medical appointments, sport, school etc etc. as many males still dont participate in house chores.
Further, you need a house. Very problematic in some area as the prices of renting or buying is too high.
And you need, affordable childcare, which is not available in many area .
So, if society does not care to provide facilities, why should women care, hey ? Slavery is over
I wonder if ‘vaccines’ have anything to do with this reported phenomena…?
No worries, we’ll import some more.
The first bit is a history lesson from when i was a little boy. I grew up with two married parents and 4 siblings. My dads income could place a deposit on a house, buy a car, or two, pay for all the outgoings, go on holidays. Women did not have to go to work. They were stay at home mums. Families were larger back then. Crime was not as comon or as nasty as it is today. Divorce was unusual. Shops we’re closed every weekend.
Today, legislation is preventing women from finding a high value partner because after 3 summers the male has to hand over his property and everything in it, future income until the youngest child turns 19. More often that handing over property is the deposit for her to buy the husband out.
Wanabe fathers are saying “fuk that for a joke.” Yes there are family trusts but they have to be managed trusts to comply with ever changing legislation. But even then, they risk is far too high as government increases male liability.
Yes yes, I can hear all those women howling how they have the right. Well, well hows working a full time job, paying for childcare workin for ya. Feeling a bit poorly and worn out I suspect. Child support not enough to keep you in new outfits and wine. Epensive power, rates, gas, rent, food , petrol, property maintenance, unaffordable? family court and lawyer fees on top of that. Feeling a bit short of cash are you? Finding out property has become a liability rather than an asset.
Today it takes 2 better than average incomes to buy a property in a good area suitable for raising a family.
Are we all living fulfilling lives now? Are our kids better off with not having mother within earshot? Are families as big now as they once were? Are you women happy now working a full time job, paying what you make just to keep pace? Working overtime. Blended families, kids being shoved into paid care at 7am and picked up at 6pm. So tired they are home, feed and asleep by 7.30pm.
Tinder boyfriend(s) protect their financial liability by not getting too involved with single mothers. Use them for a free shag but know how to avoid becoming a financial contributor.
The result is children do not have the nurturing, security and safety of a biological family. It is the destruction of family. What is a child to think when dad is raising another family, providing for someone else. Mum sleeping with multiple unknown men who know not to stay too long. Cum and go is more to the point.
Welcome to a small grindstone existence under financial constant, time pressure and future child development problems including anorexia and suicide.
It is all designed to have a lower birth rate and make countries import people from other cultures. Many who are not compatible with our used to be traditional values. State raised children, loveless lives, poverty, disappointing and shitty awful existence.
People have forgotten that the glue to any healthy and successful relationship are mostly simple acts of kindness. A small attention or a kind word. And helping each other.
And not watching hard porn or playing videogames or going to the pub every night among other things
Why would anyone want to bring children into the hell Europe has become. Its not dying out, its dead. What we are seeing is the twitching of the corpse with the undertaker, the EU, digging its grave.
We as a nation are solely to blame for this debacle. After WW2, the western world came to its senses and began rebuilding. We had full employment, booming economies and the family unit were producing babies at better than the replacement rate. Men could afford housing and easily manage financially. Populations were growing and housing plus living standards rose. The key essentials were in place in the 60’s, but not content with that, our scientists started tinkering with contraception and birth control and our myopic politicians got carried away with dumb economic measures that restricted jobs growth and created welfare dependency. The next 20 years saw unbridled widespread sexual freedom without the brake of pregnancy.and marriage. Abortion stats started rising everywhere and politically motivated attacks on religious belief ran riot. Morality and responsibility suffered. In the 90’s women fought for the right to abortion on demand. Little wonder then that we now have this disastrous birth replacement problem in the western world. 1.2 babies per woman will lead to populations dying out and our selfish approach to life is destroying whatever civilization we had. Now the Philistines are invading to hasten the end times, We can stop it but we must restore Judeo-Christianity in our world and rebuild the economic environment to sustain that. That means good jobs, where men can be providers and afford big families. Women must fulfil their biological function and become mothers not shelf sitters. Sexual satisfaction is one thing but irresponsible abortion results in compromising another human being’s right to life. God gave us everything we need in this world . Lets make better use those gifts and do something more for humanity. The nation and life must come first.
the planet is overpopulated… if we don’t reduce population acid rain and other problems will become more frequent with the planet eventually becoming uninhabitable.. We should have a maximum of 1 billion population worldwide.