Elon Musk tweets S'pore 'going extinct' due to low birth rate

Elon Musk, billionaire, Tesla chief, Dogecoin enthusiast, and owner of X (formerly Twitter), tweeted on Dec. 5 that Singapore, alongside many other countries, are "going extinct".

This was in response to a tweet on Singapore's low and declining birth rate.

Singapore (and many other countries) are going extinct https://t.co/YORyakBynm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2024

The tweet cited an article by media outlet, Newsweek, commenting on Singapore's shrinking labour force and falling birthrate.

The tweet stated that Singapore's birth rate had "hit rock bottom", which translates to "more seniors" and "fewer workers".

"The government is urging more hiring of older workers and turning to robots – Singapore has the world's second-highest robot density – to plug the gaps," said the tweet.

🇸🇬 SINGAPORE’S BABY CRISIS: WILL ROBOTS SAVE THE DAY?

Singapore’s birth rate has hit rock bottom—just 0.97 kids per woman, far below the 2.1 needed to sustain a population.

Translation? More seniors, fewer workers, and a shrinking labor force.

From factories to food delivery,… pic.twitter.com/zDaXMWGjKz

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 5, 2024

Musk's tweet has been viewed more than 41 million times in two days, according to X's own metric.

Musk's views on population collapse

Musk's personal opinions about population collapse is well-known.

He is of the view that economically advanced countries, such as Japan and South Korea, are at risk of a population collapse, which can occur suddenly, after a prolonged period of decline.

His views have been refuted in 2022.

This was after Musk said "population collapse" was more serious and pressing than climate issues, such as global warming.

Demographers in the U.S. argued that comparing cataclysms is itself misleading, as there is no proper basis of comparison.

Birth rate below 1.0

Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said in February 2024 that Singapore is facing the "twin demographic challenges" of a persistently low fertility rate and an ageing population.

She said the resident total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped below 1.0, with preliminary estimates showing that the (TFR) fell to 0.97 in 2023.

This is a further decline from the previous record low of 1.04 in 2022 and 1.12 in 2021.

Indranee provided reasons for the country's low fertility rate.

One example she gave was that couples who have had their marriage plans disrupted by the pandemic have, in turn, delayed their parenthood plans.

She cited other reasons like concerns about the financial costs of child-raising, pressures to be an excellent parent, or difficulties managing work and family commitments.

"More broadly, though, our low fertility reflects a global phenomenon where individual priorities and societal norms have shifted," she said.

In 2023, there were 33,541 live births in Singapore.

According to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) report, this is a 5.8 per cent drop from 2022, with 35,605 live births.

This is the lowest number of live births since at least 1960, according to data published by the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) on the SingStat website.

The number of registered deaths decreased by 0.01 per cent from 26,891 in 2022 to 26,888 in 2023.

In addition, 278 children were also adopted and registered/ re-registered under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 2021.

Musk's newfound influence

Recently, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Nov. 12 that Musk, will lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Mothership has reached out to the Singapore authorities for comments.

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Top photos via Elon Musk/X