Tanzania Population
Tanzania had an estimated population of 70,545,865 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 21st most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.86% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +2.86% a year.
Tanzania at a glance
How Tanzania's population is changing
Tanzania's population is growing fast: +2.86% a year, which works out to about +2,014,190 people per year, or +5,515 a day. Births (34.8 per 1,000) and deaths (5.7 per 1,000) alone would give +2.91% a year; net migration removes about 12,730 people a year (−0.02%). Roughly one in every 116 people on Earth lives in Tanzania.
Population of Tanzania since 1960
In 1960, Tanzania had 9,901,419 people. By 2025 that was 70,545,865 — 7.1× larger. The fastest growth came between 1968 and 1978, when the population rose by 43%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 9,901,419 | — |
| 1970 | 13,492,677 | +36.3% |
| 1980 | 19,189,769 | +42.2% |
| 1990 | 26,110,207 | +36.1% |
| 2000 | 34,260,139 | +31.2% |
| 2010 | 44,758,488 | +30.6% |
| 2020 | 60,972,798 | +36.2% |
| 2025 | 70,545,865 | +15.7% |
Tanzania from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Tanzania at about 3,000,000 people in 1800; the UN estimates 70,545,863 in 2025 (24× 1800) and projects 262,834,719 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 273% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 3,000,000 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 5,400,400 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 4,975,342 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 7,625,152 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 34,260,142 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 70,545,863 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 129,621,091 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 198,812,936 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 262,834,719 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Tanzania
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 70,545,865. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dar es Salaam | 7,795,114 | UN urban centre | 11.05% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Mwanza | 954,104 | UN urban centre | 1.35% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Arusha | 795,744 | UN urban centre | 1.13% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Zanzibar | 709,809 | GeoNames settlement | 1.01% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 5 | Mbeya | 539,248 | UN urban centre | 0.76% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 6 | Morogoro | 461,634 | UN urban centre | 0.65% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 7 | Kigoma | 340,483 | UN urban centre | 0.48% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 8 | Moshi | 309,202 | UN urban centre | 0.44% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 9 | Tanga | 296,202 | UN urban centre | 0.42% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 10 | Dodoma | 269,047 | UN urban centre | 0.38% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
How Tanzania compares
Tanzania has almost the same population as Thailand (71,619,863).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Tanzania | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #19 |  Germany | 83,491,249 | +18% | compare → |
| #20 |  Thailand | 71,619,863 | +2% | compare → |
| #22 |  United Kingdom | 69,487,000 | −2% | compare → |
| #23 |  France | 68,720,337 | −3% | compare → |
Compare Tanzania with any country →
Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Nigeria, Ethiopia, DR Congo, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan.
Explore around Tanzania
Land neighbours (8)
DR Congo 112,832,473 · 1.6× the population · compare
Kenya 57,532,493 · 1.2× smaller · compare
Uganda 51,384,894 · 1.4× smaller · compare
Mozambique 35,631,653 · 2.0× smaller · compare
Malawi 22,216,120 · 3.2× smaller · compare
Zambia 21,913,874 · 3.2× smaller · compare
Rwanda 14,569,341 · 4.8× smaller · compare
Burundi 14,390,003 · 4.9× smaller · compare
Tanzania's 8 neighbours together hold 330,470,851 people — 4.7× Tanzania's population. The most populous is DR Congo (112,832,473).
In its region
Tanzania is the 4th most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 5.3% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.
Rankings featuring Tanzania
- Largest countries by population #21
- Fastest-growing countries #16
- Highest birth rates #10
- Highest fertility rates #12
- Youngest populations (share aged 0–14) #13
Cities
Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, Zanzibar, Mbeya, Morogoro, Kigoma, Moshi — all Tanzania's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Tanzania when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.