Demographics of Tanzania

Demographic features of the population of Tanzania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Tanzania
Population pyramid of Tanzania in 2020
Population	63,852,892
Growth rate	2.78% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	33.3 births/1,000 population
Death rate	5.09 deaths/1,000 population
Life expectancy	70.19 years
• male	68.42 years
• female	72.02 years
Fertility rate	4.39 children
Infant mortality rate	30.87 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Sex ratio
Total	1 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Tanzanian
Language
Official	Kiswahili or Swahili, English

The population distribution in Tanzania is extremely uneven. Most people live on the northern border or the eastern coast, with much of the remainder of the country being sparsely populated.^[1]: 1252 Density varies from 12 per square kilometre (31/sq mi) in the Katavi Region to 3,133 per square kilometre (8,110/sq mi) in Dar es Salaam.^[2]: 6 Approximately 70 percent of the population is rural, although this percentage has been declining since at least 1967.^[3] Dar es Salaam is the de facto capital and largest city. Dodoma, located in the centre of Tanzania, is the de jure capital, although action to move government buildings to Dodoma has stalled.

The population consists of about 125 ethnic groups.^[4] The Sukuma, Nyamwezi, Chagga, and Haya peoples have more than 1 million members each.^[5]: 4

Over 100 languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa.^[6] Among the languages spoken in Tanzania are all four of Africa's language families: Bantu, Cushitic, Nilotic, and Khoisan.^[6] Swahili and English are Tanzania's official languages.^[6] Swahili belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family.^[7] The Sandawe people speak a language that may be related to the Khoe languages of Botswana and Namibia, while the language of the Hadzabe people, although it has similar click consonants, is arguably a language isolate.^[8] The language of the Iraqw people is Cushitic.^[9] Other languages are Indian languages and Portuguese (spoken by Goans and Mozambicans).

Non-Africans residing on the mainland and Zanzibar account for 1 percent of the total population. The Asian community including Hindus, Sikhs, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, Parsis, and Goans, exceed 60,000. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 20,000 Europeans (90 percent of which are from the British diaspora) reside in Tanzania. Over 100,000 people living in Tanzania are of Asian or European ancestry.^[10]

Based on 1999–2003 data, over 74,000 Tanzanian-born people were living in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, with 32,630 residing in the United Kingdom; 19,960 in Canada; 12,225 in the United States; 1,714 in Australia; 1,180 in the Netherlands; and 1,012 in Sweden.^[11]

Population

Demographics of Tanzania, Data of Our World in Data, year 2022; Number of inhabitants in millions.

According to the 2012 census, the total population was 44,928,923 compared to 12,313,469 in 1967,^[2]: 1 resulting in an annual growth rate of 2.9 percent. The under 15 age group represented 44.1 percent of the population, with 35.5 percent being in the 15–35 age group, 52.2 percent being in the 15–64 age group, and 3.8 percent being older than 64.^[12]

According to the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects, children below the age of 15 constituted 44.8 percent of the total population, with 52.0 percent aged 15–64 and 3.1 percent aged 65 or older.^[13]

	Total population[13]	Population aged 0–14 (%)[13]	Population aged 15–64 (%)[13]	Population aged 65+ (%)[13]
1950	7,650,000	46.0	51.8	2.2
1955	8,741,000	45.7	52.0	2.3
1960	10,074,000	45.8	51.8	2.4
1965	11,683,000	45.8	51.7	2.4
1970	13,605,000	46.2	51.3	2.5
1975	15,978,000	46.4	51.1	2.6
1980	18,687,000	46.5	50.8	2.6
1985	21,850,000	46.4	51.0	2.7
1990	25,485,000	46.0	51.3	2.7
1995	29,944,000	45.3	51.9	2.8
2000	34,021,000	44.8	52.3	2.9
2005	38,824,000	44.6	52.4	3.0
2010	44,793,000	44.8	52.0	3.1

Structure of the population

Population density (2022)

Old Tanzanian woman in Arusha, 2008.

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates) (Projections based on the 2002 Population Census.):^[14]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	23 267 957	23 864 623	47 132 580	100
0-4	4 191 004	4 121 103	8 312 107	17.64
5-9	3 608 891	3 551 955	7 160 846	15.19
10-14	2 735 494	2 728 687	5 464 181	11.59
15-19	2 494 983	2 490 960	4 985 943	10.58
20-24	2 179 173	2 160 970	4 340 143	9.21
25-29	1 730 600	1 754 007	3 484 607	7.39
30-34	1 289 114	1 563 083	2 852 197	6.05
35-39	1 207 182	1 394 428	2 601 610	5.52
40-44	1 032 605	1 088 697	2 121 302	4.50
45-49	770 149	797 868	1 568 017	3.33
50-54	604 621	629 580	1 234 201	2.62
55-59	422 141	459 343	881 484	1.87
60-64	347 604	387 334	734 938	1.56
65-69	223 365	243 517	466 882	0.99
70-74	179 960	207 795	387 755	0.82
75-79	115 076	130 796	245 872	0.52
80+	135 995	154 500	290 495	0.62
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	10 535 389	10 401 745	20 937 134	44.42
15-64	12 078 172	12 726 270	24 804 442	52.63
65+	654 396	736 608	1 391 004	2.95

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Projections based on the 2012 Population Census.): ^[15]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	28 229 599	29 408 029	57 637 628	100
0–4	4 972 289	4 878 738	9 851 027	17.09
5–9	4 013 263	3 968 953	7 982 216	13.85
10–14	3 582 899	3 568 790	7 151 689	12.41
15–19	3 014 118	3 041 114	6 055 232	10.51
20–24	2 656 362	2 674 122	5 330 484	9.25
25–29	2 042 003	2 333 256	4 375 259	7.59
30–34	1 642 384	1 971 517	3 613 901	6.27
35–39	1 464 246	1 732 225	3 196 471	5.55
40–44	1 241 782	1 330 290	2 572 072	4.46
45–49	1 032 732	1 113 792	2 146 524	3.72
50–54	758 908	762 341	1 521 249	2.64
55–59	605 139	713 099	1 318 238	2.29
60–64	411 344	406 728	818 072	1.42
65-69	312 655	351 895	664 550	1.15
70-74	199 196	211 801	410 997	0.71
75-79	141 944	180 717	322 661	0.56
80+	138 335	168 651	306 986	0.53
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	12 568 451	12 416 481	24 984 932	43.35
15–64	14 869 018	16 078 484	30 947 502	53.69
65+	792 130	913 064	1 705 194	2.96

Vital statistics

Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimates

The Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey 2010 estimated that the infant mortality rate for 2005–10 was 51.^[16] Registration of other vital events in Tanzania is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.^[17]

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 births)
1950	7 632	365	168	197	47.7	22.0	25.8	6.49	145.0
1951	7 835	376	170	205	48.0	21.7	26.2	6.51	144.0
1952	8 045	387	174	213	48.1	21.7	26.5	6.53	143.1
1953	8 264	399	178	221	48.3	21.6	26.8	6.56	142.1
1954	8 490	411	182	229	48.5	21.4	27.0	6.58	141.2
1955	8 726	425	186	239	48.7	21.4	27.3	6.61	140.4
1956	8 970	439	191	248	48.9	21.3	27.6	6.65	139.7
1957	9 224	454	196	258	49.2	21.2	28.0	6.69	138.9
1958	9 488	467	201	266	49.2	21.1	28.1	6.70	138.1
1959	9 760	482	206	276	49.3	21.1	28.3	6.72	137.4
1960	10 042	496	211	285	49.4	21.0	28.4	6.73	136.6
1961	10 338	512	216	296	49.6	20.9	28.7	6.75	135.8
1962	10 645	528	221	307	49.6	20.8	28.8	6.76	134.9
1963	10 960	544	226	318	49.7	20.6	29.0	6.77	133.9
1964	11 290	560	231	329	49.6	20.4	29.2	6.78	132.7
1965	11 631	576	235	341	49.5	20.2	29.3	6.78	131.5
1966	11 982	593	239	354	49.5	20.0	29.5	6.79	130.1
1967	12 346	609	243	367	49.4	19.7	29.7	6.80	128.6
1968	12 740	628	245	383	49.4	19.2	30.1	6.84	127.1
1969	13 168	651	248	403	49.5	18.8	30.7	6.88	125.6
1970	13 618	675	252	423	49.7	18.5	31.1	6.91	124.0
1971	14 092	701	257	444	49.8	18.3	31.6	6.94	122.3
1972	14 596	725	262	463	49.8	18.0	31.8	6.95	120.5
1973	15 124	752	266	487	49.8	17.6	32.2	6.96	118.7
1974	15 671	781	272	510	49.9	17.4	32.6	7.00	116.7
1975	16 244	808	277	531	49.8	17.1	32.7	7.00	114.7
1976	16 839	832	281	551	49.5	16.7	32.8	6.99	112.6
1977	17 455	860	285	576	49.3	16.3	33.0	6.99	110.5
1978	18 080	887	289	598	49.1	16.0	33.1	6.98	108.7
1979	18 699	909	292	617	48.6	15.6	33.0	6.95	107.1
1980	19 298	930	297	632	48.1	15.4	32.7	6.91	106.2
1981	19 891	950	303	647	47.7	15.2	32.5	6.85	105.8
1982	20 500	973	311	663	47.4	15.1	32.3	6.80	105.8
1983	21 171	998	320	678	47.2	15.1	32.1	6.75	106.0
1984	21 857	1 017	329	688	46.5	15.1	31.4	6.67	106.1
1985	22 570	1 038	337	700	46.1	15.0	31.1	6.57	105.8
1986	23 324	1 059	345	714	45.4	14.8	30.6	6.48	105.0
1987	24 099	1 082	353	729	45.0	14.7	30.3	6.40	103.8
1988	24 844	1 110	360	749	44.6	14.5	30.1	6.37	102.5
1989	25 523	1 130	369	761	44.2	14.4	29.8	6.29	101.1
1990	26 206	1 149	380	769	43.8	14.5	29.3	6.20	99.9
1991	26 891	1 171	391	781	43.5	14.5	29.0	6.14	98.9
1992	27 581	1 190	404	787	43.1	14.6	28.5	6.08	98.2
1993	28 469	1 211	414	798	42.8	14.6	28.2	6.01	97.1
1994	29 598	1 250	426	824	42.5	14.5	28.0	5.93	96.2
1995	30 560	1 300	440	860	42.5	14.4	28.1	5.87	95.0
1996	31 141	1 334	450	884	42.5	14.3	28.2	5.85	93.4
1997	31 786	1 353	460	893	42.5	14.5	28.1	5.84	91.5
1998	32 626	1 386	464	922	42.4	14.2	28.2	5.79	88.7
1999	33 500	1 415	459	956	42.2	13.7	28.5	5.73	85.4
2000	34 464	1 453	457	996	42.1	13.3	28.9	5.69	81.6
2001	35 414	1 495	452	1 043	42.1	12.7	29.4	5.67	77.4
2002	36 354	1 525	447	1 078	41.9	12.3	29.6	5.62	73.1
2003	37 334	1 565	437	1 128	41.8	11.7	30.2	5.61	69.0
2004	38 361	1 613	433	1 179	42.0	11.3	30.7	5.61	65.4
2005	39 440	1 662	430	1 232	42.1	10.9	31.2	5.61	62.1
2006	40 562	1 696	428	1 269	41.7	10.5	31.2	5.56	59.2
2007	41 716	1 719	424	1 295	41.1	10.2	31.0	5.49	56.4
2008	42 871	1 748	422	1 325	40.7	9.8	30.8	5.43	54.0
2009	43 958	1 773	415	1 358	40.2	9.4	30.8	5.36	51.5
2010	45 111	1 795	401	1 394	39.7	8.9	30.8	5.29	49.5
2011	46 416	1 816	392	1 424	39.1	8.4	30.6	5.21	47.4
2012	47 786	1 833	382	1 451	38.3	8.0	30.3	5.10	45.5
2013	49 254	1 908	375	1 533	38.7	7.6	31.1	5.12	43.9
2014	50 815	1 978	369	1 609	38.9	7.3	31.6	5.12	42.2
2015	52 543	2 032	365	1 667	38.7	7.0	31.8	5.09	41.1
2016	54 402	2 086	361	1 725	38.4	6.7	31.7	5.03	39.8
2017	56 267	2 140	360	1 780	38.1	6.4	31.7	4.99	38.6
2018	58 090	2 181	359	1 822	37.5	6.2	31.3	4.92	37.3
2019	59 873	2 224	360	1 864	37.1	6.0	31.1	4.86	36.3
2020	61 705	2 262	381	1 881	36.7	6.2	30.5	4.80	35.3
2021	62 830	2 263	383	1 872	36.0	6.1	29.8	4.73	31.3
2022	64 712	2 306	378	1 890	35.6	5.8	29.2	4.67	30.1
2023	66 618	2 346	386	1 921	35.2	5.8	28.8	4.61	28.9

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in Tanzania since 1950

Life expectancy in Tanzania since 1960 by gender

Period	Life expectancy in Years[18]
1950–1955	41.25
1955–1960	43.03
1960–1965	44.31
1965–1970	45.83
1970–1975	47.70
1975–1980	49.90
1980–1985	50.64
1985–1990	50.86
1990–1995	49.61
1995–2000	50.06
2000–2005	53.65
2005–2010	58.82
2010–2015	62.78
2020	66.40
2021	66.20

Census Data and Demographic and Health Surveys

Source:^[19]

Region	1967 (Population / Crude Birth Rate / Total Fertility Rate)	1978 (Population / Crude Birth Rate / Total Fertility Rate)	1988 (Population / Crude Birth Rate / Total Fertility Rate)	2002 (Population / Crude Birth Rate / Total Fertility Rate)	2012 (Population / Crude Birth Rate / Total Fertility Rate)
Tanzania, including Zanzibar	12,313,469 / 47 / 7.3	17,036,499 / 49 / 6.3	22,455,207 / 47 / 5.4	33,461,849 / 43 / 4.2	44,928,923 / /
Zanzibar	354,815 / 48 / 7.3	476,111 / 48 / 7.1	640,675 / 49 / 6.4	981,754 / 43 / 4.5	1,303,569 / /

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[20]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)	CBR (Zanzibar)	TFR (Zanzibar)
1991-1992	42.8	6.25 (5.57)	42.1	5.14	43.0	6.59 (5.91)
1996	40.8	5.82 (5.1)	36.3	4.11 (3.5)	41.9	6.34 (5.5)
1999	41.4	5.55 (4.8)	34.4	3.16 (2.9)	43.5	6.48 (5.5)
2004-2005	42.4	5.7 (4.9)	34.6	3.6 (3.1)	44.8	6.5 (5.6)	38.0	5.3 (4.6)
2010	38.1	5.4 (4.7)	35.0	3.7 (3.3)	39.0	6.1 (5.3)	35,9	5.1 (4.8)
2015-16	37.2	5.2 (4.5)	35.1	3.8 (3.4)	38.1	6.0 (5.1)	36.3	5.1 (4.6)
2017	35.5	4.9	31.0	3.5	37.3	5.7	33.7	4.5
2022	33.8	4.8 (4.4)	31.9	3.6 (3.4)	34.6	5.5 (5.0)	33.8	4.7 (4.3)

Regional fertility rates

Fertility rates are estimated by Surveys (TDHS) and Census in different times. TDHS surveys estimated these fertility rates: 6.3 (1991–92), 5.8 (1996), 5.7 (2004–05), 5.4 (2010) and 2002 Census said 6.3 ^[21]

Region	1967[22]	1978[22]	1988[22]	2006-09[16]	2017[23]
Tanzania (country total)	7.3	6.3	5.4	5.4	4.9
Dodoma (capital)	7.6	6.2	5.9		6.0
Arusha	7.5	7.0	6.0		3.2
Kilimanjaro	8.9	7.5	5.8		3.4
Tanga	7.7	6.2	5.1		4.6
Morogoro	6.2	6.5	4.3		3.7
Pwani	5.8	6.1	5.4		3.8
Dar es Salaam	5.0	5.4	3.4		2.8
Lindi	-	5.4	4.6		3.9
Mtwara	5.7	4.9	4.5		3.3
Ruvuma	7.1	6.1	5.0		3.7
Iringa	7.8	6.3	4.9		4.5
Mbeya	8.1	6.3	4.7		4.7
Singida	6.3	5.9	5.7		7.4
Tabora	6.7	6.0	5.4		6.9
Rukwa	-	6.1	6.2		5.7
Kigoma	6.6	7.2	6.5		5.7
Shinyanga	8.7	6.9	6.3		5.5
Kagera	7.5	7.3	6.9		4.7
Mwanza	8.1	7.1	6.1		6.0
Mara	8.0	6.9	5.9		6.4
Manyara	-	-	-		6.0
Njombe	-	-	-		4.2
Simiyu	-	-	-		7.6
Geita	-	-	-		6.9
Katavi	-	-	-		6.7
Songwe	-	-	-		5.4
Tanzania Mainland	7.3	6.3	5.4	5.4	4.9
North Unguja	-	7.1	7.0		4.5
South Unguja	-	6.2	6.5		3.2
Urban West	-	6.1	5.2		3.6
North Pemba	-	8.3	6.9		6.3
South Pemba	-	8.2	7.6		5.5
Tanzania Zanzibar	7.3	7.1	6.4	5.1	4.5

Ethnic groups

The Bantu Sukuma are Tanzania's largest ethnic group.

mainland - African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African. Around 100,000 people living in Tanzania are from Europe or Asia.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Tanzania

• Kiswahili or Swahili or Kiunguja (in Zanzibar) (official)^[24]
• English (official)^[24]
• Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar)^[24]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Tanzania

A Muslim man in Bagamoyo.

Most Tanzanians are nowadays Christians and Muslims. The numerical relationship between followers of the two religions is regarded as politically sensitive and questions about religious affiliation have not been included in census questionnaires since 1967.

For many years estimates have been repeated that about a third of the population each follows Islam, Christianity and traditional religions.^[25] As there is likely no longer such a large percentage of traditional religionists,^[26] a range of competing estimates has been published giving one side or the other a large share or trying to show equal shares.

Estimates from the Pew Report Islam and Christianity (2010) were 60% Christian and 36% Muslim.^[27]

The remainder of the population are Hindus, Buddhists, animists, and unaffiliated. Most Christians are Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican or Pentecostal, though a number of other churches, as Seventh-Day Adventist, and Eastern Orthodox Christians are also represented in the country. Most Tanzanian Muslims are Sunni Muslims, though there are also populations of Ibadi, Shia, Ahamadiya, Bohora. Muslims are concentrated in coastal areas and in mainland areas along former caravan trade routes.

See also

• Tanzania portal

• List of ethnic groups in Tanzania