The impact of rapid population growth on social and economic development in Tanzania

Majige B Selemani, Principal Statistician

Tanzania continues to have high birth rates and one of the fastest growing populations in the world. At the current rate of growth, the population would double in size in about 25 years. The population projection for Tanzania was developed under two assumption of fertility from 2005 to 20035. The purpose of this projection is to consider some of the implications of this rapid rate of growth for the social and economic development of the country. Tanzania is a high fertility, rapid population growth country with a youthful age structure. The population is going to continue to grow rapidly despite the HIV and AIDS epidemic. More importantly, the course of fertility will be a key determinant of the future size of the population. The projection uses two different population projection assumptions to consider the impact of population growth on achievement of the development vision.