Elon Musk, the wealthiest individual globally, recently asserted that Nigeria witnessed four million more births than the total number recorded across the European Union. He shared this statement on his X platform, attributing the figure to insights provided by his artificial intelligence tool, Grok.
According to the statistics cited by Musk, Nigeria saw approximately 7.8 million births in 2025, contrasting sharply with the 3.5 million births documented in the EU. This comparison underscores Nigeria’s rapid population growth, which exerts considerable pressure on the nation’s vulnerable economy. As of 2025, World Bank reports indicated a 63 percent poverty rate in Nigeria, exacerbated by the increasing cost of living.
In related developments, UNICEF noted in February 2026 that 14 million Nigerian children had their births registered during the preceding two years, representing a major advancement in national legal identity initiatives. Despite these demographic trends, Muhammadu Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano, stated at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit that the country is currently seeing economic growth outpace its population of roughly 250 million for the first time.
