Tanzania population rises to 61.7 million

DODOMA, Tanzania

Tanzania’s population expanded by 16 million in ten years to 61.7 million, President Samia Hassan announced from Dodoma on Monday.

Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam is poised to become one of the world's most heavily populated cities in the years to come with current population of 5.38 million people, followed by Mwanza with 3.69 inhabitants while the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar is home to 1.9 million people, an increase of 600,000.

The East African country's population grew from 44.9 million in 2012 to more than 60 million, according to the census carried out earlier this year, with president saying the numbers reflected an annual increase of 3.2 percent.

"Such population might not be a big deal for a huge country like ours but it's a burden when it comes to allocating resources and delivering social services," Hassan said during an event broadcast live from the capital Dodoma.

"We need to start preparing development projects for these people and make necessary reforms in our policies to match with the current numbers," Hassan said, pointing out that the country's population was projected to reach 151.2 million in 2050.

Dar es Salaam, which lies on Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast, grew from a fishing village to become the country's largest city.

A World Bank report in 2019 said Dar es Salaam was "one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, and with a growth rate of 6.5 percent, it is expected to reach 10 million residents by 2030.

"Because of this rapid growth, the city faces serious congestion and mobility challenges, which are worsened by an undeveloped road network."

President Hassan said the census results showed there are 59.8 million in Tanzania mainland and 1.9 million in the Zanzibar islands.

Of the total population, 31.7 million are females, and 30 million are males.

The Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics conducted the Population and Housing Census (PHC), the sixth since independence in 1964, from August 23 to September 4.

Tanzania’s population stood at 44.9 million in the 2012 census.