Elon Musk has angered after making a “cooked” comment about Aussies, with many slamming the billionaire for being “out of touch”.

An outspoken tech billionaire has sparked fierce debate online for his “cooked” assessment of our nation’s future.

Reacting to recent data about Australia’s plummeting birthrate, Elon Musk took to X — the platform he famously bought and rebranded from Twitter — to boldly declare: “Australians are becoming an endangered species.”

While it’s true that our birthrate is declining, the ‘endangered species’ remark felt like a stretch to thousands in the comment section, especially considering data shows the US isn’t faring much better.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal the nation’s fertility rate has dropped to 1.48, continuing a long-term downward trend.

That puts us just a fraction behind America’s rate, which currently sits around 1.5 births per woman.

Unfortunately, this current rate is far below the 2.1 replacement level required for a population to sustain itself.

So, why exactly are Aussies holding off on starting families?

Research shows the primary drivers are extreme cost-of-living pressures, such as skyrocketing housing, grocery, and childcare expenses.

On top of that, women are delaying having children, and there’s also been a widespread change in cultural attitudes and a shift towards prioritising career and lifestyle.

Tens of thousands of people flocked to the comment section of Musk’s post to slam the billionaire for being out of touch with reality.

“Elon Musk calling Australians endangered over birthrates is wild. Maybe people just can’t afford kids anymore. But sure, blame society instead of the economy,” one user fired back.

“Billionaires can’t put two and two together — people aren’t having children because they can’t afford to,” another added.

Many echoed the sentiment that economic pressures were to blame

“It’s sad but wealth inequality has caused this. It’s too expensive to have kids,” someone wrote.

“Cost of living and housing are straight up murdering the birthrate everywhere, not just Australia. Gotta make having kids actually affordable again or we’re cooked,” another agreed.

Some argued the world doesn’t actually need more people anyway, with one person pointing out: “[There are] too many people on this planet as it is! 8 billion and our planet can’t sustain this many people as it is.”

The debate even sparked a bit of a gender war.

“Let’s be honest: birthrates are falling because many women don’t see men today as suitable partners or fathers,” one woman wrote.

“I’m telling you this is because women don’t like men anymore,” another agreed.

Australia isn’t the only country facing a decline birthrate, with many other nations sitting around 1.5 births per woman. Picture: news.com.au
Australia isn’t the only country facing a decline birthrate, with many other nations sitting around 1.5 births per woman. Picture: news.com.au
Of course, plenty of people just used the opportunity to poke fun.

“Having given birth twice, I am fully with all Australian women who say: ‘Yeah, nah, I’m right, mate’,” one mum humorously remarked.

“Maybe you [Musk] should move there and help increase their birthrate,” another teased.

One user took the opportunity to note that: “Nobody wants an Australian accent.”

Turning overseas

Australia is far from the only country struggling to procreate — across OECD nations, fertility is sitting at an average rate of 1.5.

The situation is even more dire in Asia, with South Korea sitting at a catastrophic 0.7 births per woman, while Japan has a famously low rate of around 1.3.

In a desperate bid to tackle its own falling birthrate, one local government in Kochi, Japan, is actually paying people to date.

Officials are offering up to $125 to residents aged 20–39 to use certified dating apps.

The taxpayer-funded subsidy covers registration, membership and subscription fees, making it easier for young people to start meeting potential partners as the population continues to age rapidly.