eCommerce is not widely adopted in Tanzania. The online buying behavior of most Tanzanians is through social media pages where business outlets post their products and services, and the customer contacts the seller for delivery. The payment may be done on delivery or through mobile money.
With the growing internet penetration in the country and changes in market forces, we expect eCommerce to pick up soon. Currently there are no specific regulations governing eCommerce in Tanzania. There are also a few eCommerce developers in the country engaged in payment gateway and digital marketing solutions. E-commerce has increased to $26.7 trillion business and contributed 30 percent of GDP globally.
Social Media Data
- Data published in Meta’s advertising resources indicates that Facebook had 4.35 million users in Tanzania in early 2022.
- Numbers published in Twitter’s advertising resources indicate that Twitter had 470.1 thousand users in Tanzania in early 2022.
- Numbers published in Meta’s advertising tools indicate that Instagram had 3.15 million users in Tanzania in early 2022.
- In April 2022, WhatsApp had approximately 2.44 billion unique active users worldwide, up 6.4 percent compared to the corresponding month in 2021. WhatsApp is expected to reach over 2.26 billion unique users in June 2022.
- Figures published in LinkedIn’s advertising resources indicate that LinkedIn had 990.0 thousand “members” in Tanzania in early 2022.
Demographic Data
- Tanzania’s population in 2022
- Tanzania’s total population was 62.39 million in January 2022.
- Data show that Tanzania’s population increased by 1.8 million (+2.9 percent) between 2021 and 2022.
- 50.0 percent of Tanzania’s population is female, while 50.0 percent of the population is male.
- At the start of 2022, 36.6 percent of Tanzania’s population lived in urban centres, while 63.4 percent lived in rural areas.
- Note: gender data are currently only available for “female” and “male”
Tanzania’s population by age
The median age of the population in Tanzania is 18.2.
For additional context, here’s a look at how the population in Tanzania breaks down by age group:
- 16.1 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 0 and 4.
- 22.0 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 5 and 12.
- 11.7 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 13 and 17.
- 13.1 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 18 and 24.
- 14.1 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 25 and 34.
- 10.0 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 35 and 44.
- 6.5 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 45 and 54.
- 3.8 percent of Tanzania’s population is between the ages of 55 and 64.
- 2.7 percent of Tanzania’s population is aged 65 and above.
Note: percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.