The newly released Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator  Survey (TDHS-MIS) 2022 by NBS reveals that the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for all of Tanzania, the urban and rural estimates including Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar decreased from 5.6 children per woman in the 1999 TDGS to 4.8 in the 2022 TDHS-MIS.

The trend in the national TFR is driven by a decreasing trend in the rural areas – from 6.5 in 1999 and 2004-05 TDHS to 5.5 in 2022. Among urban women, the TFR has remained fairly constant since the 2024-05 TDHS.

The report also reveals that, In Tanzania Mainland, fertility is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

On average, rural women on the Mainland give birth to 5.5 children in their lifetime, compared with urban women on the Mainland who give birth to 3.6 children.

Fertility is low among adolescents (112 births per 1,000 women age 15–19), peaks at 222 births per 1,000 among women age 25–29, and then decreases thereafter.

If fertility were to remain constant at current levels, a woman in Tanzania would bear an average of 4.8 children in her lifetime.