Demographics of Tanzania
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Tanzania, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.
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. Density varies from in the Katavi Region to in Dar es Salaam. Approximately 70 percent of the population is rural, although this percentage has been declining since at least 1967. 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. The Sukuma, Nyamwezi, Chagga, and Haya peoples have more than 1 million members each.
Over 100 different languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa. Among the languages spoken in Tanzania are all four of Africa's language families: Bantu, Cushitic, Nilotic, and Khoisan. Swahili and English are Tanzania's official languages. Swahili belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family. 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. The language of the Iraqw people is Cushitic. Other languages are Indian languages and Portuguese.
Although much of Zanzibar's native population came from the mainland, one group known as Shirazis traces its origins to the island's early Persian settlers. 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, has declined by 50 percent in the 2000s and early 2010s to 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 20,000 Europeans reside in Tanzania. Over 100,000 people living in Tanzania are of Asian or European ancestry.
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.
Population
According to the 2012 census, the total population was 44,928,923 compared to 12,313,469 in 1967, 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.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.
| Total population | Population aged 0–14 | Population aged 15–64 | Population aged 65+ | |
| 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
Structure of the population :| 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 |
Vital statistics
The Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey 2010 estimated that the infant mortality rate for 2005–10 was 51. Registration of other vital events in Tanzania is not complete. The prepared the following estimates.Births and deaths
| Year | Population | Live births | Deaths | Natural increase | Crude birth rate | Crude death rate | Rate of natural increase | TFR |
| 2009 | 1 667 889 | 577 393 | 1 090 496 | |||||
| 2010 | 1 678 325 | 573 213 | 1 105 122 | |||||
| 2011 | 1 687 203 | 565 099 | 1 122 104 | |||||
| 2012 | 44 928 923 | 1 694 943 | 555 975 | 1 138 968 | 5.2 |
Life expectancy
Population
Source:| Region | 1967 | 1978 | 1988 | 2002 | 2012 |
| 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 / / |
Fertility and Births (Demographic and Health Surveys)
and Crude Birth Rate :| Year | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR |
| 1991-1992 | 42.8 | 6.25 | 42.1 | 5.14 | 43.0 | 6.59 | - | - |
| 1996 | 40.8 | 5.82 | 36.3 | 4.11 | 41.9 | 6.34 | - | - |
| 1999 | 41.4 | 5.55 | 34.4 | 3.16 | 43.5 | 6.48 | - | - |
| 2004-2005 | 42.4 | 5.7 | 34.6 | 3.6 | 44.8 | 6.5 | 38.0 | 5.3 |
| 2010 | 38.1 | 5.4 | 35.0 | 3.7 | 39.0 | 6.1 | 35,9 | 5.1 |
| 2015-16 | 37.2 | 5.2 | 35.1 | 3.8 | 38.1 | 6.0 | 36.3 | 5.1 |
| 2017 | 35.5 | 4.9 | 31.0 | 3.5 | 37.3 | 5.7 | 33.7 | 4.5 |
Total fertility rate in Tanzania
Fertility rates are estimated by Surveys and Census in different times.TDHS surveys estimated these fertility rates :6.3, 5.8, 5.7, 5.4
and 2002 Census said 6.3
| Region | 1967 | 1978 | 1988 | 2006-09 | 2017 |
| Tanzania | 7.3 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
| Dodoma | 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 |
Other demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics of Tanzania in 2019 are from the World Population Review., 2008.
- One birth every 14 seconds
- One death every 1 minutes
- One net migrant every 13 minutes
- Net gain of one person every 17 seconds
Population
Age structure
Median age
Birth rate
Death rate
[Total fertility rate]
Population growth rate
Mother's mean age at first birth
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Net migration rate
[Dependency ratio]s
Urbanization
Ethnic groups
mainland - African 99%, other 1% ; Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African. Around 100,000 people living in Tanzania are from Europe or Asia.Religions
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male/female0-14 years: 1.02 male/female
15–54 years: 1.00 male/female
55-64 years: 0.75 male/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male/female
total population: 0.99 male/female
Life expectancy at birth
HIV/AIDS
Age 15-49 HIV infection rates:People living with HIV/AIDS:
Deaths:
Languages
- Kiswahili or Swahili or Kiunguja
- English
- Arabic
Literacy
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
Religions
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.
As there is likely no longer such a large percentage of traditional religionists, 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 were 60% Christian and 36% Muslim.
The remainder of the population are Hindus, Buddhists, animists, and unaffiliated. Most Christians are Roman Catholic, Lutheran or Seventh-Day Adventist, though a number of other Pentecostal churches, Anglicans, and Eastern Orthodox Christians are also represented in the country. Most Tanzanian Muslims are Sunni, though there are also populations of Ibadi, Shia, Ahamadiya, Bohora, and Sufi. Muslims are concentrated in coastal areas and in mainland areas along former caravan trade routes.