Elon Musk Sounds Alarm Over 'Population Collapse' Again: Birth Rate Below Sustainable Levels For Five Decades

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday warned of population collapse once again, an event that, he has said in the past, could potentially be the greatest risk to the future of civilization.

What Happened: 50-year-old Musk, who is raising seven children, said the U.S. birth rate has been below minimum sustainable levels for about five decades now. 

The billionaire entrepreneur shared U.S. fertility rate data on Twitter that showed the fertility rate last year remained below the replacement level of 2.1. The data was compiled by the Wall Street Journal, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The world’s richest person tweeted in the same thread to say that he is a rare person to be both rich and have many kids.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO sought to dismiss the view that most people cannot afford to raise many children. “Contrary to what many think, the richer someone is, the fewer kids they have. I am a rare exception. Most people I know have zero or one kid,” Musk wrote in the same thread.

Then why is it that the richer someone is, the fewer kids they have? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2022

See Also: Musk Worries About Declining Birth Rate, Say This Country Will 'Eventually Cease To Exist'

Why It Matters: Musk had last year said that “population collapse” is a much bigger problem than people realize.

Earlier this month, the billionaire raised his concern about the falling birth rate and rising death rate in Japan.  Population in Japan had its largest drop on record, falling by 644,000 to just over 125.5 million in 2021. The drop was the biggest since comparable data became available in 1950. 

Musk, who dreams of colonizing Mars and making life multi-planetary, has earlier said that people should focus on having more babies. 

Price Action: Tesla closed 6.9% lower at $628.16 on Tuesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Courtesy of Nvidia via Flickr