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Elon Musk recently echoed concerns about the declining global population, sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter) highlighting this as a major challenge. The post included a graph projecting population changes for several nations, including Nigeria, the US, Indonesia, and Pakistan, between 2018 and 2100.
Elon Musk has taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his agreement in a post that population decline now stands as the world's biggest problem.
A graph showing the expected change in population size between 2018 and 2100 for the predicted most populous nations on Earth, which also include Nigeria, the US, Indonesia and Pakistan, was posted to X Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account.
The account posted: "Population collapse is humanity's greatest threat... Elon Musk."
Musk retweeted the statement and wrote: "Yes."
Yes https://t.co/iiacYs29ju
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2025
For years, experts have recognised that the world is heading toward population decline, though there is an ongoing debate about the speed of this trend and which countries will be most impacted. Key factors contributing to population decline include declining fertility rates, emigration, and ageing populations. In many nations, the average number of children per woman is below 2.1-the threshold required to sustain a stable population.
In 2023, the average number of children per woman in England and Wales dropped to 1.44, the lowest ever recorded, according to the Office for National Statistics. Globally, fertility rates have declined significantly, falling from an average of 5.3 children per woman in 1963 to less than half that figure today, the Daily Express reported.
A graph first published in 2020 illustrates that while both India and China had populations of around 1.5 billion in 2018, their trajectories are expected to diverge sharply. By 2100, India's population is projected to decline to just under 1.1 billion, a reduction of about 400 million. China's population, however, is expected to fall dramatically to 731.9 million-a staggering drop of 731 million. This would position Nigeria, with a projected population of 790.1 million, as the world's second most populous country by the end of the century.
The 2020 report by researchers at the University of Washington suggested that population decline, particularly in China and India, might occur more rapidly than previously anticipated.
Despite fertility rates below replacement levels, the United States is projected to remain the fourth-largest nation in 2100, with population stability supported by positive net migration. Similarly, Canada and Australia are expected to maintain semi-stable populations through migration.
By 2100, current growth nations such as Indonesia and Pakistan are predicted to experience slight population declines, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia are expected to surpass them in population size around the turn of the century.
Elon Musk has frequently voiced concerns about global population decline, warning that "population collapse is coming."