Tanzania Demographics – Population, Vital Statistics, Fertility and More

Tanzania Demographics – Population, Vital Statistics, Fertility and More

The characteristics of Tanzania demographics in terms of population include ethnicity, population density, education level, economic status, the health of the people, religious affiliations, and other factors of the population that are discussed in this article.

Tanzania demographics has a severely unequal population distribution. The majority of the population lives along the eastern coast or northern border, with the rest of the nation’s thinly populated interior. The Katavi Region has a density of 12 for every square kilometre (31/square miles), while Dar es Salaam has a density of 3,133 per sq. km (8,110/square mile). Rural areas account for around 70% of the population. However, this number has been dropping since 1967. Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city and de facto capital, is also the country’s largest and most populous. The de jure capital of Tanzania is Dodoma, which is located in the country’s central region. However, plans to relocate government structures to Dodoma have stagnated.

There are around 125 ethnic communities in the country. The Sukuma, Chagga, Haya, and Nyamwezi peoples each have over one million members.

Tanzania demographics has over 100 distinct languages, making it the country with the most linguistic diversity in East Africa. All four African language groups are represented in Tanzania: Bantu, Khoisan, Cushitic, and Nilotic. Tanzanian official languages are English and Swahili. Swahili is a Bantu language from the Niger-Congo group. The Sandawe people use a language that is connected to the Khoe languages of Namibia and Botswana, but the Hadzabe people speak a language that is possibly a linguistic isolate, despite having comparable click sounds. The Iraqw people speak a Cushitic language. The Indian and Portuguese languages are two more languages (spoken by Mozambicans and Goans).

Although the majority of Zanzibar’s local population is from the mainland, the Shirazis are descendants of the island’s early Persian inhabitants. Non-Africans who live in Zanzibar and on the mainland make up about 1% of the population. From the 2000s to the early 2010s, the Asian community, which includes Hindus, Sikhs, Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, Goans and Parsis, shrank by half, to 50,000 on the Tanganyika mainland and about 4,000 in Zanzibar. Tanzania is home to about 70,000 Arabs and up to 20,000 Europeans (ninety per cent of whom are British). Tanzania demographics has a population of over 100,000 persons with European and Asian heritage.

Based on Tanzania demographics over 74,000 people born in the country lived in Organization for Development and Economic Cooperation nations between 1999 and 2003, with 32,630 in the UK, 19,960 in Canada, 1,714 found in Australia, 12,225 in the US, 1,180 in Hollands, and 1,012 found in Sweden.

Tanzania Population Demographics

As per the census of 2012, the total population was established at 44,928,923, up from 12,313,469 in the census of 1967, translating into a 2.9 % annual growth rate. 44.1 % of the populace was aged under 15, with 35.5 % in the age group between 15 to 35, 52.2 % in the age group of 15–64 and 3.8 % aged over 64.

Children aged under 15 made up 44.8 % of the population, as per the 2012 version of the World Population Prospects, with 52 % aged between 15–64 years and 3.1 % aged over 65.

  Population Aged over 65 Population Aged 15 to 64 yrs (%) Population aged below 14 (%) Total Population
2010 3.1 52.0 44.8 44,793,000
2005 3.0 52.4 44.6 38,824,000
2000 2.9 52.3 44.8 34,021,000
1995 2.8 51.9 45.3 29,944,000
1990 2.7 51.3 46.0 25,485,000
1985 2.7 51.0 46.4 21,850,000
1980 2.6 50.8 46.5 18,687,000
1975 2.6 51.1 46.4 15,978.000
1970 2.5 51.3 46.2 13,605,000
1965 2.4 51.7 45.8 11,683,000
1960 2.4 51.8 45.8 10,074,000
1955 2.3 52.0 45.7 8,741,000
1950 2.2 51.8 46.0 7,650,000

Structure of the Population

Population structure as per 1 July 2013 approximations

Age Group Female Male Width Total 23 267 957 47 132 580 23 864623 100
0 to 4 4,121,103 4,191,004 17,64 8,312,107  
5 to 9 3,551,955 3,608,891 15,19 7,160,846  
10 to 14 2,728,687 2,735,494 11,59 5,464,181  
15 to 19 2,490,960 2,494,983 10,58 4,985,943  
20 to 24 2,160,970 2,179,173 9,21 4,340,143  
25 to 29 1,754,007 1,730,600 7,39 3,484,607  
30 to 34 1,563,083 1,289,114 6,05 2,852,197  
35 to 39 1,394,428 1,207,182 5,52 2,601,610  
40 to 44 1,088,697 1,032,605 4,50 2,121,302  
45 to 49 797,868 770,149 3,33 1,568,017  
50 to 54 629,580 604,621 2,62 1,234,201  
55 to 59 459,343 422,141 1,87 881,484  
60 to 64 387,334 347,602 1,56 734,938  
65 to 69 243,517 223,365 0,99 466,882  
70 to 74 207,795 179,960 0,82 387,755  
75 to 79 130,796 115,076 0,52 245,872  
80+ 154,500 135,995 0,62 290,495  
Age Group Female Male Percentage Total
0 to 14 10,401,745 10,535,389 44.42 20,937,134
15 to 64 12,726,270 12,078,172 52.63 24,804,442
Over 65 736,608 654,396 2.95 1,391,004

Vital Statistics

Tanzania Demographic Health Survey

According to the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2010, the mortality rate among infants in Tanzania was 51 in 2005–2010. Other important events in Tanzania have not been fully documented. The UN Population Division provided the following estimations.

Period Anual Deaths Anual Live births Anual Natural Change CDR* CBR* TFR* NC* IMR*
1950-55 184,000 402,000 218,000 22.4 49.0 6.74 26.6 153
1955-60 198,000 464,000 267,000 21.0 49.3 6.80 28.3 143
1960-65 218,000 535,000 322,000 20.1 49.1 6.80 29.0 136
1965-70 239,000 616,000 384,000 18.9 48.7 6.79 29.8 128
1970-75 258,000 709,000 475,000 17.5 48.0 6.75 30.5 119
1975-80 275,000 821,000 542,000 15.9 47.4 6.73 31.5 109
1980-85 307,000 932,000 633,000 15.2 46.0 6.55 30.8 104
1985-90 348,000 1,061,000 727,000 14.7 44.8 6.36 30.1 102
1990-95 423,000 1,197,000 892,000 15.3 43.2 6.05 27.9 102
1995-2000 480,000 1,336,000 815,000 15.0 41.8 5.75 26.8 92
2000-2005 492,000 1,522,000 961,000 13.5 41.8 5.66 28.3 77
2005-10 454,000 1,744,000 1,230,000 10.8 41.6 5.58 30.2 61
2010-15   1,865,000            
Tanzania demographic and health survey 2015 16 -20   2,052,000            
* CBR= Crude Birth Rate for every 100 *NC=natural change *CDR=Crude Death rate; TFR =Total Fertility rate (no of children each woman has); IMR= Infant Mortaluty rate

Deaths and Births

Year Live Births Population NC Deaths CDR CBR Rate of NC TFR
2012 1,694,943 44,928,923 1,138,968 555,975       5.2
2011 1,687,203   1,122,104 565,099        
2010 1,678,325   1,105,122 573,213        
2009 1,667,889   1,090,496 577,393        

Life Expectancy

Period Life Expectancy (yrs)
2010-15 62.78
2005-10 58.82
2000-05 53.65
1995-2000 50.06
1990-95 49.61
1985-90 50.86
1980-85 50.64
1975-80 49.90
1970-75 47.70
1965-70 45.83
1960-65 44.31
1955-60 43.03
1950-55 41.25

Population

Region 2012 (Population/ TFR/CBR) 2002 (Population/ TFR/ CBR) 1988 (Population/ TFR/ CBR) 1978 (Population/ TFR/ CBR) 1967 (Population/ TFR/ CBR)
Zanzibar 1,303,569 / / 981,754 /4.3/ 43 640,675 /6.4/ 49 476,111 /7.1/ 48 354,815/ 7.3/ 48
Tanzania (Zanzibar included) 44,928,923 / / 33,461,849 /4.2 / 43 22,455,207 /5.4/ 47 17,036,499 /6.3/49 12, 313,469 /47/ 7.3

Births and Fertility

Year TFR (Total) CBR (Total) TFR (Urban) CBR (Urban) TFR (Rural) CBR (Rural) TFR (Zanzibar) CBR (Zanzibar)
1991-92 6.25 (5.57) 42.8 5.14 42.1 6.59 (5.91) 43.0    
1996 5,82 (5.1) 40.8 4.11 (3.5) 36.3 6.34 (5.5) 41.9    
1999 5.55 (4.8) 41.4 3.16 (2.9) 34.4 6.48 (5.5) 43.5    
2004-05 5.7 (4.9) 42.4 3.6 (3.1) 34.6 6.5 (5.6) 44.8 5.3 (4.6) 38.0
2010 5.4 (4.7) 38.1 3.7 (3.3) 35.0 6.1 (5.3) 39.0 5.1 (4.8) 35.9
2015-16 5.2 (4.5) 37.2 3.8 (3.4) 35.1 6.0 (5.1) 38.1 5.1 (4.6) 36.3
2017 4.9 35.5 3.5 31.0 5.7 37.3 4.5 33.7

Tanzania’s Fertility Rate

Surveys (TDHS) and Censuses measure fertility rates at different times. These fertility rates were calculated by TDHS surveys: 6.3 (1991 to 1992), 5.8 (in 1996), 5.7 (2004 to 2005), 5.4 (in 2010), and 6.3 according to the 2002 Census.

Region 2017 2006-2009 1998 1978 1967
National Total 4.9 5.4 5.4 6.3 7.3
Dodoma (Capital) 6.0   5.9 6.2 7.6
Kilimanjaro 3.4   5.8 7.5 8.9
Arusha 3.2   6.0 7.0 7.5
Mara 6.4   5.9 6.9 8.0
Mwanza 6.0   6.1 7.1 8.1
Kagera 4.7   6.9 7.3 7.5
Shinyanga 5.5   6.3 6.9 8.7
Kigoma 5.7   6.5 7.2 6.6
Rukwa 5.7   6.2 6.1
Tabora 6.9   5.4 6.0 6.7
Singida 7.4   5.7 5.9 6.3
Mbeya 4.7   4.7 6.3 7.8
Iringa 4.5   4.9 6.3 7.8
Ruvuma 3.7   5.0 6.1 7.1
Mtwara 3.3   4.5 4.9 5.7
Lindi 3.9   4.6 5.4
Dar es Salaam 2.8   3.4 5.4 5.0
Pwani 3.8   5.4 6.1 5.8
Morogoro 3.7   4.3 6.5 6.2
Tanga 4.6   5.1 6.2 7.7
Songwe 5.4  
Katavi 6.7  
Geita 6.9  
Simiyu 7.6  
Njombe 4.2  
Manyara 6.0  
Tanzania Mainland 4.9 5.4 5.4 6.3 7.3
South Pemba 5.5   7.6 8.2
North Pemba 6.3   6.9 8.3
Urban West 3.6   5.2 6.1
South Unguja 3.2   6.5 6.2
North Unguja 4.5   7.0 7.1
Tanzania Zanzibar 4.5   6.4 7.1 7.3

More Demographic Statistics

Tanzania’s population figures for 2019 taken from the World Population Review are as follows:

  • 1 birth per 14 seconds
  • 1 death per minute
  • 1 net migrant per 13 minutes
  • Net gain of 1 person per 17 seconds

Unless otherwise stated, all demographic data is taken from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

55,451,343 est. July 2018

48,261,942 est. July 2013

Age Structure (est. 2018)

Years Percentage Female Male
0 to 14 43.4 11,908,654 12,159,482
15 to 24 20.03 5,543,788 5,561,922
25 to 54 30.02 8,284,229 8,361,460
55 to 64 3.51 1,074,480 872,601
Over 64 3.04 978,094 706,633

Median Age in years

Female: 18.2

Male: 17.6

Total: 17.9, ranked 215 in the world (est. 2018)

Female: 17.6

Male: 17.0

Total: 17.3 (est. 2013)

Birth Rate

Ranked 19th in the world

35.3 births per 1000

Death rate

Ranked 112 in the world

7.5 deaths per 1000

Total Fertility Rate

Ranked 20th in the world

4.71 children per woman

Population Growth rate

2.74 percent (est 2018)

Ranked 20th in the world

Mean age of the mother at 1st birth

19.8 years (est. 2015/2016

Median age 25 to 29

Prevalence rate of Contraceptives

38.4 percent (2015/2016)

Net migration Rate

Ranked 127th in the world

-0.5 migrants per 1000

Dependency ratios

Elderly ratio: 6 (est. 2015)

Youth ratio: 87.4 (est. 2015)

Potential support ratio: 16.6 (est.2015)

Total ratio: 93.4 (est. 2015)

Urbanization

Urbanization rate: 5.22 percent yearly change rate (est. 2015-2020)

Urban population: 33.8 percent of the population (2018)

Ethnic groups

The mainland consists of 99 percent African communities. (95 percent of which are Bantu comprising of over 130 tribes). Another 1 percent comprised of European, Asian, and Arab groups. Zanzibar is comprised of African, Arab, mixed African and Arab. About 100,000 persons residing in Tanzania come from Asia or Europe.

Tanzania Religion Demographics

Muslim 35.2 percent, Christian 61.4 percent, Ancient religion 1.8 percent, Unaffiliated 1.4 percent, other 0.2 percent. (est. 2010)

The Tanzania religious demographics further show that Zanzibar is nearly totally Muslim

Sex Ratio

Age Male/female
At birth 1.03
0 to 14 1.02
15 to 54 1.00
55 to 64 0.75
Over 65 0.76
Total population 0.99 est. 2013

Life expectancy as at birth

Female: 64.6 (est. 2018)

Male: 61.6

Total population: 63.1

Male: 59.48

Female: 62.09

Total population: 60.76

HIV/AIDS

Rates of HIV infection:

  • 5% overall, with 3.8% of men and 6.2% of women

Persons living with HIV/AIDS as at 2017

  • 5 million

Deaths (est. 2017)

  • 32,000

Languages

Swahili or Kiswahili or Kiunguja (Zanzibar) (Official language)

English (Official language)

Arabic (Commonly used in Zanzibar)

Literacy

Female: 73.1 percent

Male: 83.2 percent

Total population: 77.9 percent (est. 2015)

Female: 62.2 percent

Male: 77.5 percent

Total population: 69.4 percent (est.2003)

School life expectancy in years (from primary up to tertiary education)

Female: 8

Male: 8

Total: 8

Unemployment among youths aged 15 to 24

Female: 4.6 percent

Male: 3.1 percent

Total: 3.9 percent

Religions

Tanzania demographics based on religion consists majorly of Muslims and Chrisitians. Since 1967, questions on religious affiliation have been omitted in census questionnaires because the numerical correlation between adherents of these two religions is considered politically sensitive. For several years, estimations have been made that Christianity, Islam, and traditional faiths each account for around one third of the total population. Because traditional religionists are expected to be in the minority, a variety of opposing estimates have been produced, giving either side a significant proportion or attempting to indicate equal shares.

According to the Pew Report Christianity and Islam (2010), 30 percent of the population is Christian and 36 percent is Muslim.

Hindus, animists, Buddhists, and unaffiliated people make up the rest of the population. The majority of Christians in the nation are Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists or Lutherans, while there are also Pentecostal congregations, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Christians. The majority of Muslims in Tanzania are Sunni, although there are also Ibadi, Bohora, Shia, and Ahamadiya Muslims. Muslims concentrations are found along old trade routes along the coast and on the mainland.

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