The largest city of Tanzania, Dar es Salam, had a population of around *** million people in 2022. On the shore of Lake Victoria, Mwanza ranked as the second most populated city in the country, with some *** thousand inhabitants. Zanzibar City, the capital of Zanzibar's archipelago, had around *** thousand dwellers.

This statistic shows the biggest cities in Tanzania in 2022. In 2022, approximately **** million people lived in Dar es Salaam, making it the biggest city in Tanzania.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Tanzania was reported at 31.21 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Tanzania - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Population in largest city in Tanzania was reported at 8161231 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Tanzania - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Tanzania TZ: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 30.194 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 30.104 % for 2016. Tanzania TZ: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 30.753 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 34.123 % in 1967 and a record low of 29.695 % in 1996. Tanzania TZ: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tanzania – Table TZ.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted average;

Accessibility to major cities dataset is modelled as raster-based travel time/cost analysis, computed for the 10 largest cities (>200k habitants) in the country, normalized from 0 to 100, where 0 corresponds to the lowest city accessibility. The following cities are included: City - Population Dar es Salaam - 4,364,541 Mwanza - 706,453 Zanzibar - 501,459 Arusha - 416,442 Mbeya - 385,279 Morogoro - 305,840 Tanga - 221,127 Kigoma - 215,458 Dodoma - 213,636 Songea - 203,309 This 1km resolution raster dataset is part of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis (GIS-MCDA) aimed at the identification of value chain infrastructure sites (or optimal location)

Tanzania TZ: Population in Largest City data was reported at 5,719,486.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,409,174.000 Person for 2016. Tanzania TZ: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 1,380,124.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,719,486.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 162,126.000 Person in 1960. Tanzania TZ: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tanzania – Table TZ.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

Major cities demand dataset is modelled as raster-based travel time/cost analysis and weighted using the population/market size dimension as a measure of demand. Individual cumulative travel time/cost maps were produced for the country’s 10 largest cities (>200k habitants). The final market/demand layer consists of an arithmetic weighted sum of normalized (0-100) city accessibility grids.

The following values were assumed for major cities population of Tanzania: City - Population - Weight % Dar es Salaam - 4,364,541 - 0.579 Mwanza - 706,453 - 0.094 Zanzibar - 501,459 - 0.067 Arusha - 416,442 - 0.055 Mbeya - 385,279 - 0.051 Morogoro - 305,840 - 0.041 Tanga - 221,127 - 0.029 Kigoma - 215,458 - 0.029 Dodoma - 213,636 - 0.028 Songea - 203,309 - 0.027

This 1km resolution raster dataset is part of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis (GIS-MCDA) aimed at the identification of value chain infrastructure sites (optimal location).

Data publication: 2021-11-01

Contact points:

Metadata Contact: FAO-Data

Resource Contact: Nelson Ribeiro

Data lineage:

Produced using OpenStreetMap data for road, railways, cities; GAUL country border; FAO Inland Waters in Africa; FAO Major Rivers in Africa; Population major cities https://www.citypopulation.de

Resource constraints:

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-NC- SA 3.0 IGO)

Online resources:

Zipped raster TIF file for Tanzania major cities demand.

This horizontal bar chart displays individuals using the Internet (% of population) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Tanzania. The data is filtered where the date is 2023. The data is about countries per year.

Dar es Salaam was the most populated region in Tanzania as of 2021. Around 5.5 million people lived in the area. The namesake Dar es Salaam city is the capital of the region and Tanzania's largest city. Mwanza followed as second-leading region by number of inhabitants, roughly four million people.

This horizontal bar chart displays forest area (km²) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Tanzania. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays expense (% of GDP) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by gdp in Tanzania. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays GDP (current US$) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Tanzania. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. As of 2025, the country counted over 237.5 million individuals, whereas Ethiopia, which ranked second, has around 135.5 million inhabitants. Egypt registered the largest population in North Africa, reaching nearly 118.4 million people. In terms of inhabitants per square kilometer, Nigeria only ranked seventh, while Mauritius had the highest population density on the whole African continent in 2023. The fastest-growing world region Africa is the second most populous continent in the world, after Asia. Nevertheless, Africa records the highest growth rate worldwide, with figures rising by over two percent every year. In some countries, such as Chad, South Sudan, Somalia, and the Central African Republic, the population increase peaks at over 3.4 percent. With so many births, Africa is also the youngest continent in the world. However, this coincides with a low life expectancy. African cities on the rise The last decades have seen high urbanization rates in Asia, mainly in China and India. African cities are also growing at large rates. Indeed, the continent has three megacities and is expected to add four more by 2050. Furthermore, Africa's fastest-growing cities are forecast to be Bujumbura, in Burundi, and Zinder, Nigeria, by 2035.

In 2024, Gabon had the highest urbanization rate in Africa, with over 90 percent of the population living in urban areas. Libya and Djibouti followed at around 82 percent and 79 percent, respectively. On the other hand, many countries on the continent had the majority of the population residing in rural areas. As of 2023, urbanization in Malawi, Rwanda, Niger, and Burundi was below 20 percent. A growing urban population On average, the African urbanization rate stood at approximately 45 percent in 2023. The number of people living in urban areas has been growing steadily since 2000 and is forecast to increase further in the coming years. The urbanization process is particularly rapid in Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania. In these countries, the urban population grew by over five percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. However, in 39 countries on the continent, the urban population growth was over three percent. The most populous cities in Africa Africa’s largest city is Lagos in Nigeria, counting around nine million people. It is followed by Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cairo in Egypt, each with over seven million inhabitants. Moreover, other cities on the continent are growing rapidly. The population of Bujumbura in Burundi will increase by 123 percent between 2020 and 2035, registering the highest growth rate on the continent. Other fast-growing cities are Zinder in Niger, Kampala in Uganda, and Kabinda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Abstract

The main objective of the NPS is to provide high-quality household-level data to the Tanzanian government and other stakeholders for monitoring poverty dynamics, tracking the progress of the Five Year Development Plan (FYDP) II poverty reduction strategy and its predecessor plans, and evaluating the impact of other major, national-level government policy initiatives. As an integrated survey covering a number of different socioeconomic factors, it compliments other more narrowly focused survey efforts, such as the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) on health, the Integrated Labour Force Survey (ILFS) on labour markets, the Household Budget Survey (HBS) on expenditure, and the National Sample Census of Agriculture (NSCA). Secondly, as a panel household survey in which the same households are revisited over time, the NPS allows for the study of poverty and welfare transitions and the determinants of living standard changes.

Geographic coverage

Designed for analysis of key indicators at four primary domains of inference, namely: Dar es Salaam, Other Urban, Rural, Zanzibar,

Analysis unit

Households; Individuals

Sampling procedure

The NPS is based on a stratified, multi-stage cluster sample design which recognizes four analytical strata: Dar es Salaam, Other Urban areas in Mainland, Rural areas in Mainland, and Zanzibar. The sample design for the NPS 2020/21 targeted the sub-sample of households from the initial NPS 2014/15 cohort considered the “Refresh Panel”. These specific households had never previously been a part of the NPS sample design. This sample consisted of 3,352 households from 419 clusters in the NPS 2014/15 that were tracked and interviewed in the NPS 2020/21. An additional “Booster Sample” of 545 households from major cities and urban areas (specifically, Mbeya, Arusha, Mwanza, Tanga, and Dodoma) was also interviewed to allow for improved estimates in urban centres.

In previous NPS rounds, the sample design included complete households that could not be interviewed in a particular year but were found in later rounds, excluding those households that had refused to be interviewed (i.e. a household that was interviewed in Round 1, lost in Round 2, and found again in Round 3). This situation does not exist in the NPS 2020/21 as they have only been included in, at most, two rounds.

The eligibility requirement for inclusion of a household in this round of the NPS and all others is defined as any household having at least one member aged 15 years and above, excluding live-in servants. Households with at least one eligible member were completely interviewed, including any non-eligible members present in the household.

Additionally, the final sample for NPS 2020/21 included any split-off household or eligible members identified during data collection (i.e. a previous NPS member who had moved or started another household in between rounds). Marriage and migration are the most common reasons for households splitting over time. Ultimately, the final sample size for NPS 2020/21 was 23,592 individuals in 4,709 households. Of these, 4,164 households allow for panel analysis as they have been found and interviewed in both NPS 2014/15 and NPS 2020/21, while the remaining 545 (in the “Booster Sample”) will only have data available in the NPS 2020/21. The complete cohort interviewed in NPS 2020/21 will be maintained and tracked in all future waves of the NPS.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The NPS 2020/21 consists of four survey instruments: a Household Questionnaire, Agriculture Questionnaire, Livestock Questionnaire, and a Community Questionnaire. A detailed description of the questionnaires is provided in the Survey Instruments section of the Basic Information Document (available under Downloads). All questionnaires are in English and available for download.

This horizontal bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by capital city using the aggregation average in Tanzania. The data is about countries per year.

This horizontal bar chart displays health expenditure (% of GDP) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by gdp in Tanzania. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

TZ：最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比在12-01-2017达30.194%，相较于12-01-2016的30.104%有所增长。TZ：最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2017期间平均值为30.753%，共58份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-1967，达34.123%，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1996，为29.695%。CEIC提供的TZ：最大城市人口占城市总人口的百分比数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的坦桑尼亚 – 表 TZ.世界银行：人口和城市化进程统计。

As of 2019, most bank branches in Tanzania were located in the region of Dar es Salaam, the country's largest city. A total of *** bank branches were situated in the formal capital. Together, the regions of Arusha, Mwanza, Moshi, and Dodoma housed a share of nearly ** percent of the bank branches. Other *** bank branches were distributed in other regions of the country that year.