Musk questions Grok claim Nigeria had 4m more births than EU
August 2, 2026 8:02 am
File: Elon Musk
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has expressed surprise after his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, claimed that Nigeria recorded about four million more births than the entire European Union in 2025.
The exchange, shared by Musk on X on Saturday, began with a user asking whether Nigeria had one million more births than the EU last year.
Responding, Grok dismissed the claim, saying the difference was significantly larger.
“Nigeria had roughly 7.5 million births last year, while the EU had about 3.5 million. That’s a difference of around four million more births in Nigeria, not one million. The claim seems to be a misremembered version of a comparison to all of Europe including Russia,” the chatbot said.
Apparently surprised by the figures, Musk followed up by asking Grok:
“Are you, wait. Are you sure that Nigeria had 4 million births than the EU last year?”
Grok maintained its position.
“Yes, the numbers hold up. Nigeria had about seven point five to seven point six million births, while the EU had three point five five million in 2024. That’s a difference of roughly four million. The one million figure comes from comparing Nigeria to all of Europe, including Russia, where the gap narrows to about one point two to one point four million,” it replied.
The conversation has since generated widespread reactions on X, with users debating Nigeria’s rapidly growing population and Europe’s declining birth rate.
However, PUNCH Online could not independently verify the figures cited by Grok.
There is no single publicly available or verifiable demographic database confirming that Nigeria recorded such or directly comparing the country’s annual births with those of the European Union.
While estimates from international organisations, including the United Nations and the World Bank, consistently show that Nigeria has one of the world’s highest fertility rates and that many European countries are experiencing declining birth rates and ageing populations, the specific figures cited by Grok could not be confirmed from official demographic data available as of the time of filing this report.
Nigeria remains Africa’s most populous country, with an estimated population exceeding 230 million.
Samuel Omotere is an experienced journalist covering human interest stories, pop culture, and digital trends. He combines his background as a language graduate with a focus on sustainable digital storytelling.
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