Elon Musk cites data saying India’s fertility has dropped below replacement level
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New York: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Saturday said India’s birth rate has fallen below the replacement level, noting that the decline occurred earlier among the most educated segments of the population.
Posting on X, Musk referenced media outlet AF Post, which highlighted that India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) fell from 2.3 to 1.9 over the past decade. The report cited a June 4 article in The Economist that noted Delhi’s fertility rate is now about 1.2 — lower than Finland’s.
The United Nations Population Fund’s 2025 State of World Population report likewise put India’s TFR at 1.9, below the replacement threshold of 2.1. A fertility rate under replacement means, in the absence of migration, a country’s population will eventually begin to decline.
India’s population remains above 1.46 billion, and the country overtook China in 2023 as the world’s most populous nation. UNFPA cautions that despite improvements in health and education, significant inequalities persist: maternal mortality, gender discrimination and early marriage and pregnancy — particularly among women under 24 — continue to drive adverse outcomes.
(Inputs from PTI)