Tanzania sees massive drop in poverty level as population hits 70m

DODOMA: THE government has proudly announced massive decline in poverty level for its citizens countrywide.

The government, through its spokesperson and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Gerson Msigwa, said statistics show that poverty level has declined, with basic needs poverty falling from 38.6 per cent in 1991/92 to 25.1 per cent in 2024, while food poverty dropped from 22 per cent to 8.3 per cent.

He said the figures reflect the progress the country has made over the 65 years since independence.

Msigwa said the achievements had been recorded alongside an increase in the population from 12.3 million in 1967 to more than 70 million in 2026, a development that has increased demand for various social services, including healthcare, water, transport and communication.

He explained that the number of public servants had also risen from 17,565 in 1961 to 700,191 in 2026. Meanwhile, the government continues to use digital systems to improve service delivery, with 4,531 of the 10,044 government services, equivalent to 45.1 per cent, available online to reduce bureaucracy and make services more accessible to citizens.

Speaking about economic growth, Msigwa said the growth rate had increased from an average of 5.2 per cent in 2021 to 6.3 per cent in 2026.

He added that the government would continue implementing and completing development projects in phases, depending on the availability of resources and the needs of citizens.

However, Msigwa assured citizens that all projects initiated by the government would be completed, urging them to disregard what he described as misleading information intended to misinform the public and fuel hostility towards the government by claiming that development projects benefiting citizens were not being implemented.

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He said the projects were at different stages of implementation, including those already completed, those nearing completion and those still under construction.

Msigwa explained that the scale of public needs and the resources available were among the factors necessitating phased implementation of projects, despite citizens’ expectations that all projects should be completed at the same time.