Elon Musk Says Earth Is 'Basically Empty' And City Folks Are Just Living In Illusion

Elon Musk has expanded on his previous commentary on the human population.

What Happened: Musk said on Twitter that “[Humans] are absurdly concentrated on a tiny percentage of Earth’s surface.”

The entrepreneur said that people in cities think that the Earth is “full” of people but in fact, it is “basically empty.”

Human are absurdly concentrated on a tiny percentage of Earth’s surface. That’s why people in cities think Earth is “full” of people, when in fact it is basically empty.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2022

Musk’s comments came in a Twitter thread where he earlier pointed out that South Korea and Hong Kong face “population collapse.” He said if Korea’s birth rates remain unchanged the country’s population will be only almost 6% of its current population in three generations with the majority of the people over age 60.

If birth rates remain unchanged, South Korea will be ~6% of its current population in three generations, with a majority of people over age 60

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2022

Why It Matters: As of 2021, worldwide urbanization was at 56%, according to data from Statista, with North America being the most urbanized continent at 82%. 

Asia, which is the world’s most populous continent, had urbanization of 52%, while Africa, the second-most populous continent, just had urbanization of 43%.

Musk said earlier that the U.S. birth rate has been below minimum sustainable levels for nearly five decades now.

The Tesla CEO said in April that the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in a lower birth rate.

Read Next: Elon Musk Warns Not All Would Be Hunky-Dory With A 'United Earth'

This story was originally published on May 26, 2022.