8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Eastern Africa

Born in Tanzania

About 1 in 56 people born in 2023 started life in Tanzania. A boy can expect to live 64 years and a girl 70, up from 40 and 43 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 63% have basic drinking water.

1 in 56
odds of being born here
2.3 million births · Ranked 12th of 230
64 / 70
years of life, boys / girls
Was 40 / 43 in 1950
$1,629
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 185th of 203 · extrapolated
35%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 26 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 259 in every 1,000 births to 39.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth64.2 years for boys, 69.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 539.0 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year386,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles84%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV3.7%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year183 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year138 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 4.6.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman4.61UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 48 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2018
7%Poorest fifth
10%Second
14%Middle
20%Fourth
48%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,629 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth48% / 7% (2018)World Bank PIP
Unemployment1.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.8% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.1% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming65% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed85% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment28% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Dar es Salaam, with 5.4 million people.

35%
live in cities
48%
have electricity at home
63%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Dar es Salaam5.4 million
Mwanza1.1 million
Dodoma765,179
Zanzibar709,809
Arusha617,631
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Swahili90%
English69%
Sukuma9%
Nyamwezi3%
Makonde3%
Swahili, English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Dar es Salaam Region5.4 million
Mwanza1.4 million
Morogoro1.1 million
Mbeya1.0 million
Dodoma945,202
Arusha819,025
Geita779,458
Pwani769,240
Tanga747,732
Shinyanga745,142

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 31 regions
  • Dar es Salaam Region5.4 million
  • Mwanza1.4 million
  • Morogoro1.1 million
  • Mbeya1.0 million
  • Dodoma945,202
  • Arusha819,025
  • Geita779,458
  • Pwani769,240
  • Tanga747,732
  • Shinyanga745,142
  • Zanzibar Urban/West709,809
  • Mara687,437
  • Tabora616,417
  • Kigoma604,670
  • Singida499,546
  • Ruvuma486,934
  • Simiyu478,895
  • Mtwara454,581
  • Rukwa442,976
  • Kagera433,784
  • Iringa383,956
  • Kilimanjaro369,601
  • Songwe344,309
  • Manyara276,309
  • Njombe261,847
  • Katavi222,080
  • Lindi198,958
  • Pemba South75,766
  • Pemba North35,951
  • Zanzibar North30,762
  • Zanzibar Central/South25,821

People on the move

About 0.3% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Rwanda42,664
Burundi37,409
Kenya32,860
Residents born abroad0.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostRwanda (42,664), Burundi (37,409), Kenya (32,860)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.1 billion a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

6% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 11%.

6%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
11%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024846Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19505; the deadliest, in 2016, killed about 23 people (magnitude 5.9)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence107 between 2001 and 2021UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Tanzania, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Tanzania

Elsewhere in Africa

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences